Then I’ll Be Happy
LP VJM VLP 10
The LP starts with 1923 and Fletcher Henderson had a good and interesting orchestra already. The brass instrumentalists play with conviction and feeling and the saxophone team of Don Redman and Coleman Hawkins is great fun to hear, it sound as if they had good time themselves. It’s not fair to always compare the orchestra with the version we hear some years later but if we still do it, it’s mostly improvising solo players that they were lacking early on, But the following year they hired one. Armstrong came and out-dated the style of the two trumpet players.
What we hear today is a tune from the time immediately after his departure when the brothers Russell and Joe Smith had taken over the trumpet chairs. The rhythm has become lighter and the solos and even the singing by Don Redman is a sign of much more confidence.
I love the way Joe Smith rides on the rhythm in his memorable trumpet solo.