Word: lunceford
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Obviously, the offerings of a Gutbucket Gus are gibberish to the uninitiated. What the Sweet Singers need by way of introduction is someone who can play good jazz on something approaching their own terms. And Lunceford, Basie, and Ellington are the men for that. A comparison of their recordings of popular songs with the effusions of the Sweet, Swing set is eye-opening. The gulf between Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train," and Miller's is immeasurable. The Ellington band's complete grasp of the spirit of the thing, its spontaneity, its "soul," if you will, make Miller's version...
...thing is, of course, not the tune, but they way the band plans in and around it. "Down by the Old Mill Stream" is as ancient and hoary a piece as you'll find, but Lunceford's version of it on Decca shows such imagination and ingenuity that the tune, while recognizable at all times, is a secondary consideration. Earl Hines's "Jersey Bounce" on Bluebird is comparatively unknown, yet it is probably the most vivid and happily-conceived version ever put to wax. So try a direct comparison on well-known songs if you want to find the gateway...
Even if arrangements and soloists were not enough, I'd disqualify Miller purely on the grounds of spirit. The band puts on a good show, waving those horns around on "In the Mood," but Lunceford did it much better, and made better music to boot. The men play crisply and cleanly; there's too much perfection as a matter of fact. But none of it adds up to spirit...
...Decca releases include an album of dance records picked by Arthur Murray and called, of all things, "Arthur Murray Taught Me . . . etc." But they also include a fine 12-inch instrumental pairing by Bob Crosby's band, a two-part version of the blues "Outskirts of Town" by Jimmy Lunceford, and an album of blues and other folk songs by Libby Holman. Decca seems to have cornered the market on jazz for the time being on its new fifty-cent black label, except for the Commodore Music Shop, whose most recent products under Eddie Condon and Mel Powell compare favorably...
...Lunceford record is blues with soup-and-fish on--a majestic, almost top-heavy, arrangement smoothly played with the firm rhythmic background characteristic of this band. The result is satisfactory, but the lyrics aren't given the rich, vibrant interpretation they get from Al Morgan these spring evenings down at the Savoy, where Sabby Lewis's boys often play over their heads backing him up. That authentic, low-down atmosphere of the blues loses itself in the dressiness of the performance...