Various Artists - Hot Dance Bands from OKeh 1923-1931

Forty-eight rare tracks from the legendary label Okeh, one of the leading jazz and blues labels of the twenties. Includes informative booklet. Features Ace Brigade, Harold Leonhard, Mickey Guy, Milt Shaw, Arkansas Travellers, Frank Quartell, Melody Sheiks, Scranton Sirens, Emerson Gill, and more! Album Description

OKEH Recording

Rather good recordings from the past. I remember listening to some of these on shellac records when I was a kid. I think that the remastering/removing scratches, etc. was done in a fine manner. A good buy! August 2, 2008

This is an absolutely Fantastic Set

This is an OTJ fan's dream, and the Holy Grail for 78 record collectors (bless em). The dance bands have that Laurel & Hardy, Little Rascal, Old Cartoon Sounds that I just love (If you've watched any old Laurel & Hardy, you know what I'm talking about).

I don't understand people that complain about the recordings not being electric, or poorly recorded, etc. If this series hadn't been released, these recordings may have been lost forever. For historical reasons alone, what choice did the recording company have?

Forget any negative reviews. For an Old Time Jazz fan, this is 2 hours and 19 minutes of Ear Candy Nirvana. To the fans of the Robert Crumb collection "That's What I Call Sweet Music", I'd say that this is every bit as good (if not twice as good as it is on 2 discs). March 7, 2008

SUPERB COMPILATION OF RARE EARLY SIDES

Any collector worth their salt knows that the OKeh label is a treasure trove for early jazz, often of quite obscure territory bands recorded on field trips by the studio's mobile recording unit. They also allow for the fact that a compilation clearly labelled as starting at 1923 is going to include acoustic recordings.

A detailed liner note by Mark Berresford sets out the background to these 48 sides in great detail. And what sides they are! To complement Amazon's tracklist I'm setting out below the bands involved.

Disc 1
1 & 2: Ace Brigode & his 10 (!)/14 (2) Virginians
3. Harold Leonard & his Red Jackets
4 to 9. Arkansas Travellers
10/11 Frankie Quartell & his Melody Boys
12 The Melody Sheiks
13 The Scranton Sirens Orch.
14/15 The Melody Sheiks
16 Emerson Gill & his Orch.
17/18 Foor-Robinson Carolina Club Orch.
19/20 Mickey Guy & his Rose Tree Café Orch.
21&23 Vincent Lopez & his Hotel Pennsylvania Orch.
22. Palledo Orch. of St. Louis
24 Jack Glassner & his Colonial Inn Orch.
Disc 2
1 ditto
2 & 3 Emerson Gill & his Castle of Paris Orch
4 Vincent Lopez & his Casa Lopez Orch
5 & 6 Mike Markel's Orch
7 Sam Lanin
8 Sol S. Wagner
9 The Goofus Five
10 Irwin Abrams
11 Arnold Frank & his Rogers Café Orch
12/14 Ted Wallace
15/16 Gus Arnheim & his Ambassador Hotel Orch
17 Milt Shaw & his Detroiters (NB. This is actually track 15)
18/19 The Jazz Pilots
20/21 Cornell & his Orch
22 Ben Selvin
23 Sam Lanin's Famous Players & Singers
24 Fred Rich

Any one one of the original 78s would be a major find, and to assemble them all would cost a small fortune, even supposing you could find them. Some of the tunes have become jazz standards, and it's fascinating to hear, for example, "What-Cha-Call-Em Blues" played by the Palledo Orchestra of St. Louis rather than by Fletcher Henderson, "Deep Henderson" by Mike Markel's Orchestra instead of King Oliver & his Dixie Syncopaters, and "Zulu Wail" by Ted Wallace in place of Clarence Williams.

As well as familiar tunes, there are others that deserve to be heard again, particularly in performances such as these. The tracks progress in chronological order, and the second disc comes into somewhat more familiar territory, featuring musicians like the Dorsey Brothers, Jack Teagarden, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang (the latter featuring briefly on banjo on the final track) and Adrian Rollini. There's not a dud track throughout, but I would particularly single out the two sides by Cornell & his Orchestra for sheer unmitigated zest. January 22, 2008

Great concept, but...

Collectors of 20s dancebands always rejoice when they can obtain an Okeh 78 in clean condition, particularly the electric recordings from 1927-1929. So it is somewhat disappointing that more than half the tracks in this two-disc set are either acoustically recorded, or from the first year of dreadful "TrueTone" electric recording.

I also take issue with the pitch of the transfers of the acoustic sides, some of which sound like they were transferred at a speed other than that at which they were recorded. Perhaps these are minor quibbles; while some tracks (especially on the acoustic disc) are weaker than others, it does provide a good overview of the label's danceband roster, and if you collect music from this era you'll probably want this regardless of what any reviewer says! June 1, 2007

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