Blue Blowers Blues
LP VJM Records VLP 38
The LP has two contrasting orchestral sounds. On side one there is a lively washboard and kazoo group, but today I chose to put the attention to the other side with Curtis Mosby’s Blue Blowers and their blues recorded in 1928.
After the arranged intro the tempo gets slow when the unknown player of the highly effective and sonorous tuba gives the number a dramatic start followed by a good trumpet solo by James Porter. A clarinet trio follows and a trombone solo in the same muted style as the trumpet before. After a guitar solo the ensemble takes the last chorus at an unusually low volume and the number comes to an end with still the fat sounding tuba as the boss.
The Mosby band can be seen briefly and heard on the soundtrack of the early talkie Hallelujah from 1929. Their recorded output is a good example of the high standard music of the West Coast in the 20s.