Musically, this is a tremendous set, but the LP from the Australian Swaggie label may be difficult to find; fortunately, the Classics label has been reissuing this important music too.
Bud Freeman, one of the few tenor saxophonists prior to
Lester Young not to sound like
Coleman Hawkins, is heard on four hot titles with his "Windy City Five" in 1935. Good as
Bud is on tunes such as "Keep Smiling at Trouble" and "What Is There to Say," solo honors generally go to the exciting trumpeter
Bunny Berigan; the rhythm section (pianist
Claude Thornhill, rhythm guitarist
Eddie Condon, bassist
Grachan Moncur and drummer
Cozy Cole) is also quite notable. The bulk of the album consists of three four-song sessions by
Freeman's Summa Cum Laude Orchestra, a hot octet consisting of
Bud, trumpeter
Max Kaminsky, valve trombonist
Brad Gowans, clarinetist
Pee Wee Russell, pianist
Dave Bowman,
Condon, either
Clyde Newcombe or
Pete Peterson on bass, and Al Seidle or
Morey Feld on drums. Although under
Freeman's leadership and having some arrangements by
Gowans, the group often sounds like an
Eddie Condon "Nicksieland" band. Eight of their 12 numbers are taken from the songbook of
the Wolverines in 1924 (which featured
Bix Beiderbecke), but the solos and ensembles are quite fresh, rather than just re-creations. Spirited and historic music, easily recommended to Dixieland and small-group swing collectors.