Jazz Focus

Live from the Fleischman Yeast radio program - the 1937 band with Red Allen, J.C. Higginbotham, Jimmy Archey, Albert Nicholas, Charlie Holmes, Bingie Madison, Luis Russell, Lee Blair, Pops Foster and Paul Barbarin, all backing the trumpet and vocals of Louis Armstrong!

Great live recordings by possibly the best big band Louis ever had - with Bernard Flood, George Washington, Rupert Cole, Prince Robinson, Luis Russell, Lawrence Lucie and others - with arrangements and occasional tenor sax solos by Joe Garland!

Compilation of recordings the legendary violinist Venuti made for Chiaroscuro in the 1970's with Earl Hines, Dick Wellstood, Dill Jones, Milt Hinton, Bucky Pizzarelli, Zoot Sims, George Duvivier, Cliff Leeman, Spencer Clark and others.

Bands led by Slim Lamar, Sunny Clapp, Phil Baxter and Mart Britt . . .all Texas and Tennessee musicians (and at least one - Tony Almerico - from New Orleans) playing high quality dance music with a surprising amount of hot jazz thrown in - definitely showing that New York and Chicago weren't the only centers of the jazz world in the late 1920's!

Live recordings from a residence in Washington D.C. that found Lester Young at the end of his career but in remarkably good shape - accompanied by the Bill Potts Trio

Louis Armstrong's first recordings in Chicago after over a year away in New York - the first Hot Fives and accompaniments to Hociel Thomas, Chippie Hill and Blanche Calloway.

Louis Armstrong recorded a little of everything over a career in the studios that spanned almost a half a century.  Here are examples of Cuban, Mexican, French, Irish and African songs he made his own!

Great sides from 1927-34 led by and featuring Hawaiian musicians active in Los Angeles and New York- Andy Iona, Sol K. Bright, Sol Hoopi, King Nawahi and others using traditional steel guitar and string ensembles enlivened by horns in most cases.

Great sides featuring the largely forgotten pianist with Punch Miller, Darnell Howard, Cicero Thomas, George James, Bill Johnson and W.E. Burton among others!

Great selection of duos and rhythm section sides with the great Boston pianist backing major soloists!