The Charleston Chasers Vol. 1 1925-1930

They Say...

Review by arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

Nobody ever heard this group perform in front of the public, although each of the players had plenty of bandstand experience. The Charleston Chasers existed only as a studio recording ensemble, first as another way of saying Red Nichols & His 5 Pennies, then as Columbia's all-purpose jazz machine. Nichols himself appeared on the 1927 and 1928 recordings, while Miff Mole, stern emperor of the trombone, held everyone together over several years' worth of solid jazz, beginning in 1925 with "Red Hot Henry Brown" and its flip side, "Loud Speakin' Papa." These sound like Bix Beiderbecke in all the right ways. "Someday, Sweetheart" is a masterpiece of evenly paced group reflection. "After You've Gone" is really a smoker! There are wonderful moments with Joe Tarto (posthumously proclaimed "Titan of the Tuba") and pianist Arthur Schutt, most notably on his own composition, "Delirium." We're lucky to be able to savor the authentically pixillated personality of Pee Wee Russell, or the magnificence of the mighty Fud Livingston, whose "Red Hair and Freckles" is the definitive example of how this band sounded in 1929. The 14 instrumentals included in this package are by far the most satisfying of the lot. Jimmy Dorsey had much to do with that, as he and trumpeter Leo McConville pop up more often than anyone else. As for the singers, Kate Smith sounds surprisingly OK in 1927, hardly the flag-draped matron she later became. With a little cocaine she could've maybe done time as one of the dozen or so women whose voices went into the making of Betty Boop. The closest she ever got to being even remotely hip was on "I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now." Craig Leitch's vocal on "Sugar Foot Strut" would have fit well with one of Harry Reser's golly-gee ensembles. Leitch sounds like his ears stuck way out and he must have worn a tiny, checkered bow tie. Tentative vocalist Scrappy Lambert, backed by guitarist Carl Kress, sings about "darkies" on the song "Mississippi Mud." Bing Crosby also recorded this tune with Bix and Tram, and thought nothing of pronouncing the offensive word. (In later years some thoughtful individual replaced that racial slur with the generic term "people." In fact, "people beat their feet" tripled the rhyme.) The best vocalist to sing with this band was Eva Taylor, wife of Clarence Williams. Her presence lends luster and charm to "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man!" and "Turn On the Heat."