Born in Kentucky and raised in Springfield, OH,
Todd Rhodes
first attracted attention during the 1920s as pianist with
McKinney's Cotton Pickers
. Beginning in 1934,
Rhodes
spent years gigging around Detroit before assembling his own little band in 1943. By 1946 this group had established itself at
Lee's Sensation Lounge
in Chicago, and in July 1947 the band began making records bearing the
Sensation
label, with its primitively rendered graphic depicting tongues of flame surrounding the lettering. Some of
' recordings would also appear on
Vitacoustic
, yet another small-time phonographic enterprise based in Chicago. None of the players in this band became famous, and even most seasoned
jazz
heads would probably not recognize their names.
George Favors
asserted himself with a big meaty baritone sax,
Louis Barnett
held down tenor, and
Holley "Hal" Dismukes
played dazzling alto, with
Howard Thompson
blowing trumpet.
had
Joe Williams
on the bass and
Huestell Tally
at the drums. Their first four recordings were exceptionally well-played, employing both elements of
bop
and
boogie
.
"Dance of the Redskins,"
with its driving rhythms, bears a striking resemblance to the
"Redskin Rhumba,"
itself a variant on
Ray Noble
's
"Cherokee."
The records cut in October and November of 1947 for the most part sound just as solid, with occasional lapses in coordination, timbre, and tuning among the horns and in some instances as an apparent result of an improperly tuned piano. While
Sun Ra
's early
Arkestras
found ingenious ways of utilizing these kinds of sonic irregularities, the sour harmonics heard here and there on these
sessions come across as minor momentary discombobulations. Once the
masters were sold to
King Records
,
began to enjoy more than modest success.
"Blues for the Red Boy"
climbed to number four on the
Billboard
R&B
chart in 1948, and was even used as a broadcast theme song by
Alan Freed
a few years later, after
Freed
rechristened it
"Blues for Moondog."
The rocking
"Walkie Talkie,"
also recorded by young
Dinah Washington
in 1946, is sung here by
Louis Saunders
, the singing waiter from
' next recording date occurred in Cincinnati on January 25, 1949. The band seems to have tightened up its act for keeps;
"Moonlight Blues"
in particular sounds like something out of
Jay McShann
's bag.
"Pot Likker,"
with its rousing group vocal chorus, was a smash hit, making it to number three on that auspicious
chart. ~ arwulf arwulf