For Dancers Only
This CD covers a two-year period in the Jimmie Lunceford band's history, from 1935 to 1937. Perhaps the most polished of the big swing bands with seemingly effortless execution of complex parts, the band had all its key parts well in place at all points. Trumpeter-arrangerSy Olivergave the band a distinctive, refined musicality--even adding deft, original touches to a tune like "Swanee River"--while Eddie Durham lent the band a riffing style that he would later bring to perfection with theCount Basieband. The band's precision adds a special element to Durham's "Harlem Shout," while his electric guitar is a new presence in the September 1935 session that produced "I'll Take the South" and "Hittin' the Bottle." In addition to providing energizing alto sax solos, Willie Smith is also the band's most engaging vocalist, with a light rhythmic touch on "I'm Nuts about Screwy Music."--Stuart Broomer