King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band: The Complete Set

Dust off your straw hat and crank up the Victrola!

Whoo, boy. This is some old time, rag time, raggedy jazz here. Sounds like it, too. As noted throughout previous reviews and as one is no doubt aware if you are even considering buying this CD, this is a historic set of tunes all in one place, which is convenient. And the digital remastering to CD is serviceable and adequate enough, but it is apparent that they didn't have much to work with. The sound ranges from tinny to muddy and everything in between. The songs themselves are enjoyable, but none of them has a distinctive sort of sound or melody and they all tend to run together after a while. I got pretty tired of listening to it before long. Personally, this kind of music and these old time recordings just don't do much for me. I can only ever listen to it when it is background music for some other activity and I don't really have to "listen" to it. But even when it is background music, it never really does anything other than distract me occasionally. Yes, these songs and recordings are collectible for the jazz enthusiast and music collector, maybe even the occasional music/jazz historian, but for me, this is one CD set that will spend a lot of time on my shelf and not in my CD player. June 8, 2008

No longer the best choice

This used to be my favorite restoration of this music - but reviewer Ted Ison is correct: it has been definitively surpassed by the Archeophone/Off the Record set for both instrumental clarity and a more "live" sound.

This will always be tough music to 'hear' at first, and it's worth going to the best available transfer for help. We will never be able to join the young musicians that crowded in front of the bandstand in Chicago's Lincoln Gardens in 1923, stunned by the raw bluesy power, double cornet break precision and the then radical inventiveness of this music (check out the 3 different approaches that Joe Oliver takes on the 3 different versions of 'Mabel's Dream')as the group improvised chorus after chorus of 'High Society'. Instead of 2 powerhouse cornet players right in front of us, we will always have to try to experience them through the tinny, scratchy, distant medium of 1923 accoustic recording, and for budget labels at that, limited to short 2 to 3 minute takes. "Through a glass, darkly," indeed!

You really must compare the samples of this record with the Archeophone transfers before you buy. Judge for yourself which version is better. June 1, 2008

Same old same old...

There's really nothing much here that hasn't been reissued previously again and again and again. All these Oliver sets sound like they're derived from the same sources and just recycled by different labels. These are dull, bland sounding transfers. The only thing this set has going for it is that it's "complete". Otherwise, it doesn't make for very satisfying listening. February 28, 2006

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band: The Complete Set

The rhythm banjo drowns out the horns during the first 28 cuts. Cuts 29 thru 41 are much better in that regard. Cuts 40 and 41 are especially good in that we are able to hear King Oliver solo. Louis Armstrong shows us that he can be an ensemble player. He also shows us that he can play a slide whistle too. This CD is a compendium of some of the classic jazz tunes of the era. If one is an arranger, this disc could serve as a foundation illustrating how these tunes sound when played straight. February 2, 2006

King Oliver's best cd.

Music in this double cd is the best in King Oliver's career.
He plays with young Louis Armstrong and there are some great numbers specially on disc 1. Sound on this 2Cd is great. I love real sound like this without sound reflection which appears on Great original performances.
It is essential music for all fans of early jazz . September 6, 2005

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