Monday, August 15, 2005

Doc rocked

My recent foray back into Ken Burns' "Jazz" also prompted me to look for something from Doc Cheatham, who gets face time in the series talking about jazz history in general and Louis Armstrong, for whom he sometimes subbed, in particular. I picked "Swinging Down in New Orleans" on the Jazzology label. As you could guess, it's dominated by classic New Orleans-style jazz. His trumpet playing is good for anyone on songs like "When I Grow to Old to Dream" and frigging amazing for a guy 88 years young at the time. He wouldn't win any singing prizes, but it's fun when he does sing, as on "I Want a Little Girl." A delightful CD.

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