Search - Jimmie Lunceford :: Powerhouse Swing

Lunceford swing

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 03/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jimmy Lunceford's career and life were short. He died suddenly while on tour on 1947, at the age of 45. An unsubstantiated rumor at the time was that Lunceford was poisoned following a business disagreement. Whatever the cause, after his premature demise, Jimmy's arranger, Sy Oliver, went on to work with Tommy Dorsey. The similarity in style with that orchestra can be heard on this album.



Lunceford's band was competent-- their sound being similar to not only Dorsey's but any number of decent units that worked the dance hall circuit in the early-Forties. Although he was proficient on several instruments, Jimmy preferred conducting to sitting in the group.



There are twenty tracks on POWERHOUSE BLUES. Insert "Lunceford Special" between songs #10 and #11. For some unexplained reason, CD players don't pick up that title, so after track #10, all the songs appear out of synch with the program list, until TRACK 20, which goes unnamed, electronically. This one is of course, "Minnie The Moocher Is Dead. A curious glitch.



Audio fidelity here is compromised somewhat by filtering-- some of the brilliance has been eliminated along with any targeted surface imperfections. PARADE, a British label, should have mastered these a bit more carefully. Album includes a two-page commentary.



TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 54:13"