It’s Murder
LP Ace of Hearts AH 161
There’s a lot of good jazz with New Orleans roots here, by Johnny Dodds, Red Allen and Lil Armstrong as leaders. And it’s the last mentioned with her “Swing Orchestra” that I choose to listen to today. And they do swing even though they don’t have a drummer. On the tune that she composed herself she sounds in good spirit doing a lively vocal telling all about her man’s virtues, followed by a swinging piano chorus by Teddy Cole. To finish the tune Lil tops her performance with a little scat.
Chu Berry is on tenor sax and the somewhat underrated trumpet player is Joe Thomas who is always reliable to play a forceful lead. Between the second vocal and the trumpet solo we hear a very fluent clarinet by Buster Bailey.