From the Record Shelves #180

My Kinda Love

LP RCA Victor LPM-528

This was probably the first record in the Vintage Series that I bought back in 1966. It is a retrospective compilation of trombonist Jack Teagarden’s participation on records from 1928 until 1957. We enter many different musical worlds: black and white, traditional or modern, jam sessions or arranged music, studio or live.

There are many good ones to choose from and several surprises. I chose, rather at random, this one that is not a big feature for Jack but a fascinating recording. We hear “Ben Pollack and his Park Central Orchestra,” that on the surface was a dance orchestra playing a rather anonymous pop tune. What interests me is how some of the jazz musicians in the band turn it into a bluesy jazz performance.

It’s done by means of the fat sound and the blues intonation of Jimmy Mc Partland’s cornet playing, Benny Goodman’s and Jack Teagarden’s solo contributions on clarinet and trombone, and the New Orleans style drumming from Ray Bauduc. Ben Pollack who went from being a drummer to band leader and director, is doing the vocal himself and the year of recording is 1929.

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