The third and final
Claude Hopkins Classics CD has some really obscure and diverse music. The 1937
Hopkins big band included trumpeter
Jabbo Smith and trombonist
Vic Dickenson in its lineup, but of the six titles it cut, five are showcases for singer
Beverly White; in all, the legendary
Smith gets a single chorus. Better are eight titles by trumpeter
Ovie Alston's orchestra, which includes
Hopkins on piano in 1938 along with some of his sidemen. This CD concludes with six numbers by the pianist's struggling 1940 big band, decent swing performances that preceded the orchestra's complete breakup. A bit of a collector's item.