Search - Various Artists :: The Roaring Twenties

All the numbers on this CD are original recordings of the Twenties, that Golden Age (albeit brief) when British musicians had mastered the art of American dance music to the point where transatlantic visitors could join them and feel they were in the company of their peers. The Savoy Orpheans were directed by an American (pianist Carroll Gibbons) for much of the two decades and more of their life; and invariably their brass section was American (trumpeters Vernon Ferry, Charles Rocco and Frank Guarente and trombonists Chuck Moore and George Chaffin). The Kit-Cat Band, though employed by Jack Hylton's office, included the Starita brothers on alto saxophone and clarinet (Al) and clarinet and saxophone (Ray), Al being the actual leader on the stand. As the Kit-Cat was one of the smartest venues in London's West End (it was situated in the Haymarket) and it featured such American visitors as the bands of Ted Lewis, Isham Jones and Vincent Lopez, the name on the label of a record was a guarantee of a quality performance. The songs themselves are typical of their times. The atmosphere of the entire decade was one of optimism. It shows in the songs, from Breezing Along With The Breeze to Let's All Go To Mary's House (And Have A Real Good Time) as violinist-leader Jay Whidden suggests; his band was unusual in that it featured a harpist named Mario Lorenzi, who became a well-known vaudeville soloist and broadcaster. Harry Woods, most cheerful of all songwriters, has two songs here; surely we all know the easy optimistic theme about the Red, Red Robin, and even those not old enough to remember it the first time round, can identify with the idea behind Paddlin' Madelin' Home. Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson, De Sylva, Brown and Henderson (that prolific trio to whom song writing seemed so effortless), Jack Yellen and Milton Ager - we may not know their names, but we surely know their music. This album shows how they sounded originally; by these, we can estimate the accuracy of those who came after, The Roaring Twenties? - the Aspirin Age? no, the Golden Twenties, and here are, appropriately enough, twenty reminders of why this name is so exactly right.