This week, the Virtual Victrola features four recordings by a pickup band under the leadership of drummer Gene Krupa. The records were made in Chicago in February 1936 and helped establish trumpeter Roy Eldridge as a new force to be reckoned with in jazz.
During the time these records were made, the Benny Goodman orchestra was in the midst of an extended engagement at the Congress Hotel in Chicago. Benny was Gene's boss, and for this session Gene enlisted mostly fellow Goodman bandmates: singer Helen Ward, Goodman, pianist Jess Stacy, and guitarist Allan Reuss. To this lineup he added three black musicians: Chicago native and bassist Israel Crosby, tenorist Leon "Chu" Berry, and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.
The real newcomer among these musicians was Roy Eldridge. Eldridge had played on a few recordings made by Teddy Hill during the previous year, and while those performances were good, they contained nothing like the fierce explosion of energy that Eldridge released during this session, notably during his solo on "Swing Is Here." Perhaps Eldridge, knowing that Goodman had recently employed trumpeter Bunny Berigan, was ready to show Goodman that he was just as capable of sparking a recording session as Berigan was. Whatever the reason, Eldridge practically launched his career with these records.
Interestingly, Eldridge, Crosby, and Berry all would soon join the Fletcher Henderson orchestra and continue to record as highly sought-after sidemen. Eldridge remained a top attraction well into his 60's, until a stroke left him unable to play the trumpet. And he spent several years during the 1940's as a featured trumpeter and singer in Gene Krupa's big band. The only member of this group to die before his time was Chu Berry, who perished in an automobile accident in 1941, just as he was poised to overtake Coleman Hawkins as the king of the tenor saxophone.
Krupa also brought along Helen Ward, Benny Goodman's girl singer. Helen was a superb singer and talented pianist who possessed perfect pitch and was as easy on the eyes as she was on the ears. Her joyous performance on "I'm Gonna Clap My Hands" is a perfect example of how the right singer can add the perfect touch of class to a good jazz recording. And her vocal on "Mutiny In The Parlor," combined with Eldridge's muted trumpet solo, illustrates how strong jazz players can rescue a mediocre song from the doldrums and turn it into a fantastic performance.
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The Tunes:
I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_i_hope_gabriel_likes_my_music.mp3
I'm gonna Clap My Hands
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_im_gonna_clap_my_hands.mp3
Mutiny In The Parlor
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_mutiny_in_the_parlor.mp3
Swing Is Here
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_swing_is_here.mp3
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Next week, the Virtual Victrola will wrap up the 4x4's feature with Count Basie's first recording session, four classic 1936 sides that introduced the jazz world to the President of the Tenor Saxophone, Lester Young. See you then!
Israel Crosby was only 18 at the time of these recordings. Thanks for putting them up, this early stuff of Israel's is hard to find. Also, he was taken before his time also, at the age of 43, a blood clot I believe.
Damian
Posted by: Damian | June 13, 2009 at 08:08 AM