It’s Tight Jim
CD FROG DGF13
Today I listen to a Paramount record that is surprisingly good considering that it’s not among the most famous ones. Trombonist Preston Jackson plays very well and is the composer of the tune, which has one part a short stop-time theme and another one harmonically like My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It, in which the players can stretch out a little and do short solos. Trumpet player Shirley Clay had his musical upbringing in St. Louis, a town that could boast of having had a long line of excellent players of that intrument: Charlie Creath, Ed Allen, Louis Metcalf, and more. His playing is lively and driving. The clarinet player Artie Starks, who also plays a hot saxophone contributes well, as do the banjo of Frank Pashley and the piano of George Reynold.
This hot five line-up is named “Preston Jackson and his Uptown Band,” and they recorded in Chicago probably in July 1926.