The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story
First recorded in 1949, this band was the side project of a group of animators at the Walt Disney studios; this two-CD set collects the group's recordings up to 1954. The Firehouse Five began at the peak of the California revival of traditional jazz, when the music was sharply divided into warring camps and traditions were jealously defended. But there was nothing doctrinaire about the band's enthusiastic, almost frenetic, approach. Owing as much to vaudeville as it did to New Orleans jazz, it invoked the spirit of America's early popular music, including novelty tunes like "Who Walks in When I Walk Out." The sirens and other sound effects that the band added to its music even suggest a kinship with its inspired contemporary Spike Jones. Though these recordings may send traditional purists into apoplexy, the level of musicianship is surprisingly high and the spirit is infectious.--Stuart Broomer