Panama
LP London HMC 5011
This is probably one of the best Dixieland sessions ever made. Four tunes were recorded on November 27, 1943, and this is one of them.
The group was called “Wild Bill” Davison and his Commodores. Extatic, exiting.
The reason that I would give this group high points is that they keep the traditional form in the ensembles and still manage to let the personalities shine through in the solos.
Pee Wee Russell on clarinet is reflective, “Wild Bill” and George Brunis on trumpet and trombone, respectively, are ecstatic, and there is also a good piano solo by Gene Schroeder, the band’s pianist.
But the thing that above all makes the success here is the ensemble playing, the drive by “Wild Bill,” the forceful elaborated trombone parts from Brunis, and the sensitivity in the playing by Pee Wee.
And of course, a big part is played by the rhythm section, which, apart from Schroeder, consists of Eddie Condon on guitar, Bob Casey on bass, and the great George Wettling on drums.
It’s exciting music from the beginning to the end.