Three sessions for the new Decca record label featuring the Earl Hines Orchestra that was playing at the Grand Terrace in Chicago.  Walter Fuller, George Dixon and Trummy Young in the brass section, Omer Simeon, Darnell Howard and Cecil Irwin in the reeds .. . Jimmy Mundy and Quinn Wilson doing arrangements and Wallace Bishop on drums . . great band, great jazz solos!

On this episode we check out Earl Hines' wild 1932 piano solos of "Love me Tonight" and "Down Among the Sheltering Palms", where he shows his forward-thinking improvisational skills applied to a couple of otherwise mediocre pop tunes, transforming them into great jazz piano workouts!  We'll hear the contemporaneous pop versions by Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey and the Boswell Sisters and then hear several takes of Hines' versions, allowing us a glimpse into his music making process, and lots of amazing piano playing!  

This is Part 4 of my five part series on Time Life’s Giants of Jazz.  Today you’ll hear Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, Benny Carter, plus six tracks from one set called “The Guitarists”.   The latter includes six of the earliest jazz guitarists who pioneered the use of this instrument in dances and records.   You’ll hear recordings by Charlie Christian, Lonnie Johnson, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Aleman, Eddie Durham, and Eddie Lang.

As usual, I add a Canadian entry, imagining what it might look like if there were a similar series on early Canadian jazz.  The nominee this week is Mart Kenney and the Western Gentlemen.