I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
CD Retrieval RTR 79047
Here’s a tune that can be and has been interpreted in many ways, especially before the revival. The early ”fives” and the Georgians had their versions, and Clarence Willams provided a more bluesy approach, to name a few examples from the 1920’s, and later there are the recordings of Muggsy Spanier and Bunk Johnson to enjoy.
In this, the late 1926 interpretation by The University Six, it’s still something else. It’s relaxed and full of small, arranged twists here and there. Chelsea Qualey had replaced Roy Johnston in the trumpet chair a couple of months before the date, and that was an improvement. The other solos are by Abe Lincoln on trombone and Bobby Davis on alto sax.
Underpinning the music and probably providing most of the ideas for the arrangement is the giant on bass sax, Adrian Rollini.