A weblog in English and Dutch about jazz and related music, record collecting and other music projects originally created by Hans Koert.|Een webblog in het Engels en het Nederlands over jazz, jazz-verwante muziek, platen verzamelen en verrassende projecten, oorspronkelijk opgezet door Hans Koert.
Allan Reuss was an American jazz guitarist, who spent most of his career in the famous big bands of the swing era or as a studio musician. He was born in New York City in 1915 and began playing professionally as a banjoist at age 12. He took lessons and learned guitar from George Van Eps, who recommended Reuss to Benny Goodman. Reuss took over Van Eps' chair in Benny Goodman's orchestra in 1935 and played with Goodman on and off until 1943. He also played with Paul Whiteman's String Wing (1939) and joined Jack Teagarden's orchestra 1939-40. Next Reuss was with Jimmy Dorsey (1941-42) and Harry James (1942-43). At the same time he was a frequent session musician in the recording studios in New York until 1945, when he moved to Los Angeles. Here he continued as a studio guitarist and played with Arnold Ross, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter a.o. After 1946, he was less frequently on jazz dates, but he took part in occasional reunions with Benny Goodman a.o. and continued studio work in hundreds of various recordings during the 1950s and 1960s as an anonymous musician.
Promo photo 1936
Allan Reuss was an extraordinary guitarist who formed the foundationin in the rhythm section of the swing orchestra . His role was primarily to keep the rhythm going, which he did excellently, but from time to time he had a chance to show off his sophisticated chord style solo playing placing him in the top class of swing guitarists. Below I'll insert some examples of Allan Reuss' solos with various artists.
Benny Goodman
As mentioned above, Allan Reuss joined Benny Goodman and his orchestra in 1935 on the recommendation of George Van Eps. Benny Goodman recorded frequently and was on radio at the time, but only a couple of times Reuss got the opportunity to play solo. An example from November 22, 1935 is heard in If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight with the full Benny Goodman orchestra
Lionel Hampton
Reuss freelanced as a studio musician from 1937 and was engaged by a.o. Lionel Hampton to take part in some of Hampton's studio sessions for victor. From a session recorded April 26, 1937 Allan Reuss has a short elaborated solo in a version of I Got Rhythm, here titled Rhythm, Rhythm. Participating musicians are Buster Bailey (cl), Johnny Hodges (as), Lionel Hampton (vib), Jess Stacy (p), John Kirby (b), Cozy Cole (d) besides Allan Reuss (g)
Jack Teagarden
Reuss joined Jack Teagarden and his orchestra 1939 and stayed with him through 1940. During this engagement, Allan Reuss had the opportunity to record his own Pickin' for Patsy - his highly sophisticated solo piece with big band. The piece was recorded in New York, May 5 1939 and sounded like this
Variations in Jazz, I Never Knew (Asch 350-3B), 1939
A rather special recording was made for Moses Asch's record label in 1939 featuring Allan Reuss as a member of a pick-up ensemble named Peck's Bad Boys. Reuss contributes some extraordinary solo work which alone is worth this special record
Coleman Hawkins
Allan Reuss moved to Los Angeles, CA in 1945 to continue as a studio musician. For some time he led his own trio, but there were no recordings made. He was engaged by Coleman Hawkins to take part in his recording sessions for Capitol February-March 1945 and did a couple of short solos, a.o. in Stuffy recorded February 23, 1945. Participating musicians are: Howard McGhee (tp), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Sir Charles Thompson (p), Allen Reuss (g), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Denzil Best (d)
Benny Carter
The last solo work by Allan Reuss to be presented here is from a session with Arnold Ross Quintet featuring Benny Carter (as), Artie Berstein (b), Nick Fatool (d), Arnold Ross (p) and Allan Reuss (g) recorded in Los Angeles, April 1946. Three takes of The Moon Is Low were recorded, below is inserted the version uploaded a You Tube to end this small presentation of Allan Reuss
Singin' the Blues is a 1920 jazz composition by J. Russel Robinson, Con Conrad, Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was released with lyrics by vocalist Aileen Stanley in 1920 on Victor 18703.
Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra with Bix and Lang
In 1927, Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra recorded the song as an instrumental for Okeh in New York on February 4th. The Trumbauer recording is considered a jazz classic, greatly contributing to Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke's reputation and influence. Participating musicians are: Frankie Trumbauer (C-melody sax), Bix Beiderbecke (co), Bill Rank (tb), Jimmy Dorsey (cl), Doc Ryker ( as), Paul Madeira Mertz (p), Eddie Lang (g) and Chauncey Morehouse (dm)
An essay by David Sager gives an in-depth analysis of the Trumbauer-Beiderbecke recording, accessible here
Sol Hoopii's Novelty Trio
Here we will focus on a few other recordings of Singin' the Blues. First I like to point to the recording by Sol Hoopii's Novelty Trio from 1928, which emulate the famous version by Bix and Tram. It is an example of Sol Hoopii's sophisticated steel guitar playing
In 1931, Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra recorded a version of Singin' the Blues, which re-arranged the Trumbauer-Beiderbecke version. Here the solo part of Trumbauer's C-melody sax is rearranged for the reed section, while Beiderbecke's solo is repeated by Rex Stewart's cornet
In 1939, Lionel Hamptonrecorded Singin' the Blues in his series of sessions for Victor. This version feature Benny Carter (tp), Edmond Hall (cl), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Lionel Hampton (vib), Joe Sullivan (p), Freddie Green (g), Artie Bernstein (b) and Zutty Singleton (d), recorded December 21, 1939 in New York
Finally, to end this small presentation of a famous jazz classic, here's a contemporary version from a live performance, which re-creates the famous Trumbauer-Beiderbecke recording. The recording was made August 4th 2011 by Andy Schumm and his Gang. Participating musicians were: Andy Schumm (co), John Otto, (reeds), Dave Bock (tb), Vince Giordano (sb), Leah Bezin (bj, g), David Boeddinghaus (p) and Josh Duffee (d)
Lionel Hampton signed a favorable contract with RCA Victor in 1937 that allowed him to invite musicians from other popular jazz orchestras of the time to record a series of sessions that otherwise would have been difficult if not impossible to organize. From 1937 to 1941 Hampton recorded 107 sides featuring musicians from the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Luis Russell, Fletcher Henderson, Fats Waller and Earl Hines, giving him the cream of the period’s soloists and rhythm players. These recordings rank among some of the best small band swing jazz of the late 1930s and they have since been reissued both on vinil and CD, i.e.. at the 5 CDs box-set from Mosaic some years ago, shown below (- unfortunately out of print).
Mosaic #238, The Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937-41
Here I like to put focus on a famous session from September 11, 1939 that unites Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Chu Berry and Ben Webster as the dream sax section with a young Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Clyde Hart (piano), Charlie Christian (guitar), Milt Hinton (double bass) and Cozy Cole (drums); Hampton leads the session and contributes both on vibes and as vocalist.
Exerpt of discograpical info, Mosaic #238 (click to enlarge)
Benny Carter's arrangement of When Lights Are Low was the first tune and recorded in two takes, the second take probably is the best known featuring solo spots by Carter, Hampton, Hart and Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
The first take of When Lights Are Low has a different solo by Hampton
One Sweet Letter From You has vocal by Hampton and the guitar playing obligato is by Charlie Christian (- here on acoustic strings)
Charlie Christian
The tenor solo is by Hawkins or Webster (- unfortunately I'm not the expert to differentiate the two in this session, sorry)
Hot Mallets has a nice muted trompet solo by a young Dizzy Gillespie exchanging riffs with Carter's alto followed by a short tenor contribution by Chu Berry and a lengthy Hampton solo
Dizzy Gillespie
The last tune in this session was Early Session Hop that has fine examples of the sax section playing in unison followed by solos by Hawkins, Hampton and Carter
What makes these recordings magnificent examples of small band swing of the late 1930s is not only the solo contributions by the reed players and the leader. The rhythm is execellently supported by great playing of both Milt Hinton's double bass, Christian's guitar comping and Cozy Cole's drums.
Cozy Cole
The rather short playing time of each of the recorded tunes leaves a wish for more, however, you could also say that the session is a fine example of the artistic formula expressing the experience that - sometimes - less is more ...!
Retrospect
Keep Swinging (old)
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