The recordings made in the year 1927 by trombonist are precious and rewarding. Whenever recorded for the label he called his band . When moonlighting with , the ensemble was billed as the (no relation to the joke-riddled fiddling tune made famous by ). It was 's who made the most strikingly handsome records. , remembered by as the pianist who nearly always wore a carnation in his lapel, handled the instrument with gentlemanly candor. 's approach to drumming was inventive and full of little surprises. These two men appear on five of the nine sessions included on this CD. Their mutually precise conduct provided with immaculate support. made his best records in the company of . also distinguished himself on several of these sessions, as did guitarists and . There are few recordings in all of traditional so sublime as ' subtle, meditative Their beautiful rendition of is a masterpiece. , remembered today as the "Titan of the Tuba," delivers fine solos on which unfortunately begins with a spoken introduction that is nothing more than a dopey imitation of blackface 's discography reveals that some 78 rpm issues of this selection deliberately edited out the stupid patter, beginning instead with the gentle cymbal crash that leads so smoothly into the slow, elegant strut of the opening theme. The gutsiest jamming occurred on the session of August 30 1927, as drove everyone forward with great blasts on the bass saxophone. Also included in the front line were clarinetist and reedman , who contributed two of his own compositions. is the smoker, bursting with explosive rhythms. Included in the chronology are four vocal tracks by a living historical edifice named , who sounds most natural during As for the , they seemed to always include alto saxophonist among a small contingent. Certainly the toughest tune they tackled was and everything they touched turned into first-rate hot . Without question these are the best recordings left to us by the great . ~ arwulf arwulf