Jimmie Noone's New Orleans Band - Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (1936)

Recorded in Chicago on 15th January 1936
Personnel:
Guy Kelly-trumpet / Preston Jackson-trombone / Jimmie Noone-clarinet / Francis Whitby-tenor sax / Gideon Honore-piano / Israel Crosby-string bass / Tubby Hall-drums

[@irsw51]

When I discovered this music almost sixty years ago, Jimmy Noone and Johnny Dodds were held in similar regard. Both recorded prolifically in the Twenties and then briefly in the Thirties with younger musicians. They both died before they could take part in the New Orleans Revival. Since then, Dodds’ star seems to have waxed while Noone’s has waned. Is that because Dodds made more records with Louis Armstrong, or were Noone’s records with Earl Hines too commercial? To me he was a more complete clarinettist with a more ‘modern’ sound, and he had a greater influence on the next generation. It is time for a reappraisal, thanks for sharing.

[@Trombonology]

There are so many great treatments of the jazz warhorse, and Noone's is among the best. Jimmie opens in somewhat subdued and minimalistic fashion, but the performance as a whole gets hotter and hotter as it proceeds. Noone's influence is so apparent in the playing of Goodman, Dorsey and Marsala, although their "voices" are distinctive.