A Johnny Maddox jam session with clarinet master Vern Baumer brings you right back to the days when people had the good sense to listen to all musical styles (folk songs, ragtime, blues, jazz, and tin pan alley) without distiction.

14 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Ragtime, BLUES: Piano Blues



Details:
In the Nineteen Twenties, The Jazz Age, Americans were playing and listening to many kinds of music: folk songs, ragtime, the blues, gospel songs, jazz and Tin Pan Alley versions of them all. These sounds merged, submerged and re-emerged, especially in our cities, and the swirl of musical activity and creativity helped make The Twenties roar.
On this unique recording, Johnny Maddox and Vern Baumer play it all. From their rousing opening with âSugarâ to the dazzling display of technical virtuosity in their mad dash to the finish at the end of âNobodyâs Sweetheartâ, they combine their talents in an infectiously spirited jam session. Johnny also plays solo many of the tunes heâs discovered in his tireless search for new material from our musical past.
To get yourself in the swing of this session, imagine you just dropped over for the afternoon, and Johnny and Vern decided to play a few tunes together â unrehearsed and spontaneous, drawing on their common repertoire and years of experience. Vern calls one; Johnny calls one. And they go to it.
Vern blows those fine, clear sounds from his clarinet and Johnny plays with the driving energy of his distinctive ragtime style. The sheer joy of making music together is what itâs all about. Johnny and Vern salute The Jazz Age.

SUGAR
The first chorus of âSugarâ is all Johnnyâs. And then he sets up Vernâs entrance in another key- a pleasant surprise for their opening number!
Maceo Pinkard, composer of âSugarâ in 1926, also wrote the music for âSweet Georgia Brownâ, âGimmie A Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?â and âThem There Eyesâ. In 1922, with lyricist Nat Vincent, he wrote the tunes for Liza, an all-Black musical that seemed at the time a worthy successor to Noble Sissle and Eubie Blakeâs Shuffle Along (1921). Liza ran for twenty-one weeks and Pinkardâs music received praise from the critics, but both show and score have long since been forgotten.


VIRGINIA BLUES
Fred Meinken, who also composed the âWabash Bluesâ, helped make the âVirginia
Bluesâ an endearing piece with his clever inclusion of the little strain from James Blandâs âCarry Me Back To Old Virginnyâ (1878). Erdmanâs lyrics for the song run like this: âIâve got those old Virginia Blues, the meanest kind of homesick bluesâ.

SAINT LOUIS BLUES
Early on, there was not a clear distinction between rags and blues. W.C. Handyâs first published blues, âThe Memphis Bluesâ (1912), was in fact subtitled âA Southern Ragâ. These first blues were generally more up-tempo than weâve come to expect, and itâs fitting that Johnny plays so many of them this way in his ragtime style.
The âSt. Louis Bluesâ has three separate sections, making it also in this respect more like a rag. The middle section has an unusual tango rhythm and is in the minor key; and it also has sixteen measures instead of the usual twelve. Johnny uses this B section as the introduction for his duet with Vern.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS?
This and Johnnyâs âFriday Night Stompâ are the only tunes on this album which were written after the 1920âs. âDo You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?â was sung by Billie Holiday in her only feature film role, New Orleans, A United Artists production of 1947.
The movie depicted the evolution of jazz, and featured such musicians as Woody Herman, Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory. This song is nostalgically reminiscent of those early days in jazz.
In 1915, at the age of 13, composer Louis Alter began his own career playing piano for silent movies. In the 1920âs, he accompanied singers Nora Bayes, Irene Bordani, Helen Morgan and Beatrice Lillie. He later composed for Broadway musicals and for many other film scores, his most famous song being âManhatten Serenade.â


CRAZY BLUES
Blues singer Mamie Smith recorded the âCrazy Bluesâ August 10, 1920, accompanied by her own band, Mamie Smithâs Jazz Hounds. The band included Coleman Hawkins and Perry Bradford. Earlier that year, on February 14, she had become the first Black vocalist to make a record, with âThat Thing Called Loveâ,and â You Canât Keep A Good Man Downâ on the flip side. This was at the Okeh Studios in New York, and she was accompanied by the Rega Orchestra, a white studio group. She had also recorded, on January 10 at Victor, a test record side of âThat Thing Called Loveâ, accompanying herself on piano, but this was not published. Composer-pianist-vocalist Perry Bradford also had his own band, called Perry Bradfordâs Jazz Phools.

WHEN THE RED RED ROBIN COMES BOB-BOB-BOBBINâ ALONG
One of Vernâs favorites, this was Harry Woodâs first big hit, but not his last. He also wrote, among many others: âIâm Looking Over a Four- Leaf Cloverâ, âSide By Sideâ, âWhen The Moon Comes Over The Mountainâ and âTry A Little Tendernessâ. He composed songs for the 1929 RKO film, The Vagabone Lover, including the title song and âHeigh Ho, Everybody, Heigh Hoâ, which became Vagabond Lover Rudy Valeeâs trademark greeting.


ROYAL GARDEN BLUES
Named for the Royal Garden Dance Hall in Chicago, this song was first recorded in
1920 by the George Morrison Jazz Orchestra, of Denver. Jimmy Launceford was part of this group and, while growing up in Denver, studied under Paul Whitemanâs father, Wilberforce J. Whiteman. The following year, no fewer than six recordings of âThe Royal Garden Bluesâ were made, cut by Mary Stafford, Ethel Waters, Mamie Smith, Noble Sissle (accompanied by Eubie Blake at the piano). Daisy Martin and The Old Dixieland Jazz Band. It continues to be a popular staple of jazz bands.
Composers Clarence and Spencer Williams, although not related, were born a year apart in the 1890âs in Louisiana. Both got into the music business early and each left quite a legacy. Another notable collaboration is their âI Ainât Gonna Give Nobody None Oâ This Jelly Rollâ.
Spencer also composed âI Ainât Got Nobodyâ, âEverybody Loves My Babyâ, âI Found A New Babyâ, âThe Basin Street Bluesâ, âShim-me-sha-wobbleâ and the âTishemingo Bluesâ. He lived in Paris in the 1920âs, writing material for Josephine Baker, and in the 1930âs worked there with Fats Waller.
Clarence was the musical director at Okeh Records from 1923 until 1928. He accompanied both Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith, among others, and he was a very influential friend of the young Fats Waller, helping him get his first recording dates. Clarence also wrote the âSugar Bluesâ, âSqueeze Meâ and the âWest End Bluesâ.
Usually taken at a more relaxed pace, Johnnyâs rendition of the âRoyal Garden Bluesâ is a tour de force of enthusiasm and speed. He injects the excitement you would expect in a live performance, keeps you on the edge of your seat and, just at the end, winds you back down.

FRIDAY NIGHT STOMP
Johnny Maddox composed his âFriday Night Stompâ on the spur of the moment during a recording session at Dot Records in 1953. It is based on two old fiddle tunes âStones Ragâ and âRagtime Annieâ. He says he does not recall just why they named it as they did, but itâs also been recorded as the âFriday Night Bluesâ.
This is a good study of the inimitable Maddox style â complete with walking bass, striding bass, trills, grace notes, changing keys, ragtime âfillsâ and âbreaksâ.

HONEYSUCKLE ROSE
Fats Waller wrote âHoneysuckle Roseâ partly over the telephone with collaborator Andy Razaf. It was first used for a quite forgettable tap dance routine in Load of Coal, a musical revue produced at Connieâs Inn in Harlem. It gained most of its popularity after its presentation in a three-minute film by the same name, produced by MGM in 1941; and, of al Wallerâs tunes, is second in popularity only to âAinât Misbehavinâ. Vern and Johnny jazz this one up just right.

WANG WANG BLUES
The âWang Wang Bluesâ is another one of Johnnyâs happy musical finds. Paul Whitemanâs orchestra introduced it on a recording made in 1920, a year before the tune was published. A photograph of the orchestra is on the cover of the original sheet music. The tune itself is harmonically more interesting than most of Tin Pan Alleyâs blues efforts, but the lyrics are rather typically banal and meaningless: âSheâs gone and left me with the Wang Wang Bluesâ. âWang Wangâ apparently was a pseudo-oriental expression signifying nothing in particular.

HOT LIPS
Henry Busse worked with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1919 until 1928, and is the featured soloist on a recording of his composition âHot Lipsâ, cut by the orchestra in 1920. In the 30âs, Busse recorded it several times with his own orchestra. He was known for his distinctive vibrato on a delicately soft, muted trumpet, and he used âHot Lipsâ as a showcase tune and theme song. Busse was known also for his rendition of âHave You Forgotten (The Thrill?)â, recorded in 1931, and âWhen Day is Doneâ, which he used to close out the evening when he played at the Chez Paree in Chicago in the 1930âs.

DOWN AND OUT BLUES
The âDown And Out Bluesâ becomes even more low down in Johnnyâs hands, as he infuses this infrequently played tune with the energetic propulsion of a blues boogie bass.
Composer Arthur Sizemore was a pianist with traveling companies early in his career, later writing music for films and leading his own band on club dates. At one time, he owned his own publishing firm and mail order house.

JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE
The only gospel song on this album, âJust A Closer Walk With Theeâ, is featured regularly by traditional jazz bands. It evokes images of the tailgate procession of happy mourners dancing their way back from the cemetery during New Orleans style jazz funerals. Vern and Johnny set a appropriately peppy tempo, slowing into a more reverential tone at the end.

NOBODYâS SWEETHEART
Although written six years earlier in 1923, âNobodyâs Sweetheartâ also turned up in the early sound film, The Vagabond Lover. Gus Kahnâs lyrics describe the small town girl who would âbe out of place in (her) own home townâ, ever since she traded her gingham gown for âfancy hose, silken gownâ¦painted lips, painted eyes, wearing a Bird of Paradiseâ. It wasnât an easy task for a modern woman to be a flapper and also keep her reputation at home intact.
The list of songs for which Kahn wrote lyrics is almost too long to get started on, but here are a few: âMemoriesâ, âPretty Babyâ, âAinât We Got Funâ, âCarolina in the Morningâ, âYes Sir, Thatâs My Babyâ, and âMakinâ Whoopeeâ. Elmer Schoebel was also a collaborator on other tunes, such as the âFarewell Bluesâ and âSpanish Shawlâ. He was one of the first important composer-arrangers of the early 1920âs, preparing for the public works by King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.
For a fitting close, Johnny and Vern bounce right along in their exuberant rendering of âNobodyâs Sweetheartâ. Vernâs clarinet line fairly soars, and Johnnyâs double-time is relentless. Hang on to your hats!