Search - Red Nichols, Miff Mole :: Red Nichols & Miff Mole 1925-1927

MAKING COMPLEX MUSIC SOUND SIMPLE

Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 01/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Where Robert Parker's Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo CD (q.v.) concentrated on the more accessible Nichols/Mole recordings, this compilation sets off into the hinterland, with the late Richard M. Sudhalter as our reliable guide. Four distinct but inter-related studio groups are represented here; The Hottentots, with the first four of their five recordings, are followed by four Original Memphis Five recordings on which Nichols stood in for Phil Napoleon, who with Miff Mole had been something of a constant within that prolific recording group. The shorter-lived Arkansas Travellers had something of a shifting personnel but both Nichols and Mole were present for the three last sessions in 1927. Sandwiched between the first and second is the complete output of The Six Hottentots, with vocals by Irving Kaufmann.



These recordings span a period of just under two years, yet they show the development of a highly individualistic style by a small nucleus of musicians. To quote Richard Sudhalter's excellent liner note " Part of what makes the Nichols-Mole partnership so enticing is its almost offhand way of making complex music sound simple.""