GEORGE LEWIS "DOCTOR JAZZ" RARE 12" 1953 RECORDING OF NEW ORLEANS TRAD. EXELNT..
£
15
$
20
Favourite Auctions
To save auctions to your favourites, please login
If you don't have an account, please register
Description
ARTIST: George Lewis and his Ragtime Band
TITLE: DOCTOR JAZZ.
(Recorded in Hollywood, 12th Dec. 1953. Released 1969)
TRACKS: ICE CREAM / DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE / BURGUNDY St. BLUES / JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE / PANAMA / DOCTOR JAZZ / WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN / LOU-EASY-AN -I-A.
TYPE: 12" LP / LABEL: POLYDOR SPECIAL / # 545 106 / SPEED: 33rpm / MONO.
FOR MORE JAZZ SEE ALSO VARIOUS ARTISTS & BLUES SECTIONS.
CONDITION;
- VINYL: EXCELLENT.
- SLEEVE: VERY GOOD. (unlaminated & a bit grubby with a wine stain. sleeve seems almost handmade with a photo of Lewis pasted on the front & typewriter text to reverse.
- LABELS: VERY GOOD.
- INNER SLEEVE: plain white. good.
NOTES: George Lewis (July 13, 1900 – December 31, 1968) was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his greatest fame and influence in the later decades of his life.
Lewis was born Joseph Louis Francois Zenon in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Through his mother, Alice Zeno, his maternal great-great-grandmother was a Senegalese slave who was brought to Louisiana around 1803. Zeno's family retained some knowledge of Senegalese language and customs until Alice's generation. Lewis was playing clarinet professionally by 1917, at the age of 17, working with Buddy Petit and Chris Kelly regularly as well as with the trombonist Kid Ory and other leaders. At this time, he seldom traveled far from the greater New Orleans area. During the Great Depression he took a job as a stevedore, continuing to take as many music jobs after hours as he could find, a schedule that often meant he got very little sleep. In 1942, when a group of New Orleans jazz enthusiasts, including jazz historian Bill Russell, went to New Orleans to record the older trumpeter Bunk Johnson, Johnson chose Lewis as his clarinetist. Previously almost unknown outside of New Orleans, Lewis soon was asked to make his first recordings as a leader on American Music Records, a label created by Russell to document the music of older New Orleans jazz musicians and bands.
In 1944 Lewis was injured seriously while working on the docks. A heavy container nearly crushed his chest, and for a time it was feared he would never play again. Against all odds, however, Lewis began practicing while convalescing in bed at his St. Phillips Street home in the French Quarter. His friends, banjo player Lawrence Marrero and string bass player Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau, brought their instruments to Lewis's bedside. Bill Russell brought his portable recorder, and they recorded, among other things, an improvised blues that was to become the Lewis signature piece that was later christened "Burgundy Street Blues" (because that sounded better than "St. Phillips Street Blues, and Lewis had lived on Burgundy before). The performance interpolated a number of phrases and ideas that may be found in Louis Armstrong's playing, in particular, his Hot Five recording of the Kid Ory composition "Savoy Blues". These blues figurations were perhaps just "in the air" around New Orleans in the early days, but it also is true that Armstrong's records were popular in New Orleans—just as they were in the rest of the country.
As Russell recorded Lewis, he occasionally gave new titles to some of his distinctive interpretations of pop tunes, for example, "New Orleans Hula" for "Hula Lou". These changes sometimes may have been made for copyright reasons, but occasionally it was simply because the musicians reported the titles inaccurately to Russell.
Lewis stayed with Bunk Johnson's newly popular band through 1946. This included a trip to New York City, where they played for dancing at the Stuyvesant Casino on Second Avenue. At this time, the band members included Johnson, Lewis, Marrero, Pavageau, trombonist Jim Robinson, pianist Alton Purnell, and drummer Baby Dodds. While in New York, they recorded for the Decca and Victor labels.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s his recordings reached the UK and strongly influenced clarinetists Monty Sunshine and Acker Bilk. They later became important contributors to the traditional jazz scene in the UK and accompanied Lewis when he later toured the country.
In 1952 Lewis took his band to San Francisco for a residency at the Hangover Club. That was followed by a tour around the United States. In the 1960s he repeatedly toured Europe and Japan and many young clarinetists around the world modeled their playing closely on his soulful style.
Among the many clarinetists who were influenced by his style are: Sammy Rimington, Tommy Sancton, Ryoichi Kawai, Woody Allen, Butch Thompson, Rudy Balliu, Acker Bilk.
The name of George Lewis appears in the Bob Dylan song "High Water" from the album "Love and Theft". [WIKIPEDIA, MORE INFO AVAILABLE THERE]
All records are cleaned with anti-static fluid, played and graded according to RRPG guidelines before listing. I do not sell any that are in poor condition so you can rest assured you are buying a quality used record.
UK POSTAGE £3.00 FOR FIRST LP, SECOND LP POST FREE IF ORDERED AT THE SAME TIME.
WILL POST WORLDWIDE:- EUROPE including Scandinavia, Balkan States, and Russia. P&P = £5.50 for first 12" LP and 0.75p for each additional one. Royal Mail International Standard - 3 to 5 days.
REST OF WORLD including Australia, USA, Far East, South America, Africa, India and Middle East. P&P = £7.50 for first 12" LP and £1.00 for each additional one. NOT SURE - CONTACT ME.
Royal Mail International Standard - 5 to 7 days.
NOTE IF BUYING MORE THAN ONE OR FOR MAILING OUTSIDE THE UK- PLEASE DO NOT PAY UNTIL I SEND YOU AN INVOICE WITH THE CORRECT POSTAGE.
PLEASE SEE MY OTHER ITEMS FOR MORE MUSIC AT BARGAIN PRICES (CLICK LINK AT TOP RIGHT OF PAGE) OR VISIT MY SHOP > > > Shops
price rating
