COMPOSERS: Chet Baker,Louis Armstrong,Nat King Cole
LABELS: Moochin' About
ALBUM TITLE: Jazz On Film.. Biopics
WORKS: Biopics
PERFORMER: Chet Baker (trumpet), Nat King Cole (piano), Louis Armstrong (trumpet) etc
CATALOGUE NO: MOOCHIN06
The Jazz on Film series continues with the music from an assortment of 1950s biographical movies and related works, some of which used to be the kind of cosy TV fodder associated with rainy Sunday afternoons (those devoted to Gene Krupa, Red Nichols, Glenn Miller, Bix Beiderbecke – albeit loosely – and Benny Goodman), while others are probably closer to cult viewing (I don’t recall Allen Reisner’s take on the legendary WC Handy ever making it to the small screen).
With contributions from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald stirred into the mix, the set presents a cocktail of styles dating from a period when jazz was both making significant creative strides and developing an admittedly whitewashed awareness of its own history. Sadly, the booklet notes are not by journalist Selwyn Harris on this occasion and are an amateurish let-down, so just get this for the excellent (and well-transferred) music.
Roger Thomas