Volume two of King Oliver's complete issued Victor recordings as presented in 2007 by the U.K.'s Frog label opens with two distinct versions of that grand old melody "Frankie & Johnny," featuring Clinton Walker's tuba and Roy Smeck's harmonica. Unlike King Oliver's earlier recorded works, the Victors are typical of standard jazz and dance band music as performed in New York at the end of the 1920s. Some of the arrangements might seem a bit gummy when compared with somebody lik...   [ read more ]

CD $19.93

The U.K.'s Frog label presents in two volumes the complete issued Victor recordings of Louis Armstrong's mentor King Oliver, including the alternate takes. This first disc contains 22 sides recorded between January 26 and December 30, 1929 at seven different sessions that took place in New York at Liederkranz Hall and a studio on 46th Street, as well as in Chicago, not far from where he made his first recordings back in 1923. By 1929, Joe Oliver's pyorrhea had begun to compromise his ability...   [ read more ]

CD $19.93