Search - Red Mckenzie :: Sensational Classic Jazz & Blues Re-Issues, Vol. 2

THE SYNCOPATED MELODY MAN

Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 12/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As I intimated in my review of Sensation's first volume, this is the more accessible of the two, not least because most of the earlier compilation was acoustic, whereas all of these tracks were electrically recorded. Furthermore, this kicks off with the four "Music Box" sides, on which Venuti and Lang are both present. Thanks to McKenzie's growing contacts, the unlikely comb-blowing leader (and by now, vocalist also) was joined on the subsequent Mound City Blue Blowers sessions by a number of the leading jazzmen of the day. The result is that they produced several minor classics, thanks to the presence variously of Coleman Hawkins, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Muggsy Spanier, Jack Teagarden, Fats Waller, Eddie Condon, and Gene Krupa. The compilation is rounded out by half a dozen titles McKenzie recorded with a small studio orchestra."