Similar Albums:
- Artist: Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1938 07 29-1941 02 28
- Total Time: 69:11
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Jazz
Review
Trombonist Dicky Wells once said that Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans were "...a living headache to everyone. They could swing and make most bands happy to play 'Home Sweet Home.' When a band like that's on your tail, the night seems to never end. They didn't seem to know the meaning of letting up." As the house band at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, this group undoubtedly knew how to keep a large crowd entertained with music for dancing purposes. In person they must have been tight and right in order to warrant such praise from other musicians and to hold down their gig at the Savoy for nine years. On record the excitement only comes through on about half of their recordings. This is by no means unusual -- Coleman Hawkins always insisted that Fletcher Henderson's orchestra sounded terrible in the studio compared to what they could do in person. The Savoy Sultans, according to Dicky Wells, succeeded with their live audiences because they kept their arrangements relatively simple. This is evident on those tracks that cook in a solid groove but also seems to be the root of the problem with certain stodgy performances. A brief discussion of the band's better moments seems in order. "The Thing" is most memorable for an extended bowed bass solo by Grachan Moncur, father of modern jazz trombonist Grachan Moncur III. At the beginning of his solo the bassist even hums a little in the style of Slam Stewart. This is by far Moncur's longest solo on record. "Looney" has a clarinet solo by Cooper, who also played alto and baritone saxophones. "Gettin' in the Groove" is a solid strut and the Sultans were wise to present "Rhythm Doctor Man" as an instrumental. "Jeep's Blues" is a plausible emulation of the Duke Ellington sound even though Rudy Rutherford was no Johnny Hodges. "Stitches" and the rock-solid "Jumpin' the Blues" (no relation to the Jay McShann/Charlie Parker tune) are good examples of why Wells considered this band to be such formidable competition. "Jumpin' at the Savoy," however, doesn't jump and is not exciting. "Frenzy" and "Norfolk Ferry" are solid swing numbers that really cook. Al Cooper's wonderfully titled "Second Balcony Jump" is completely different from the famous Gerald Valentine/Earl Hines tune and predates it by a little more than a year. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Jump Steady | Al Cooper | (2:56) | |
| The Thing | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (3:13) |
| Looney | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (3:08) |
| Rhythm Doctor Man | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (2:46) |
| Gettin' in the Groove | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (2:54) |
| Someone Outside Is Taking Your Mind Off Me | Al Cooper | (3:16) | |
| Jeep's Blues | Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington | Al Cooper | (3:10) |
| You Never Miss the Water (Till the Well Runs Dry) | Al Cooper | (2:42) | |
| Stitches | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (2:52) |
| Jumpin' at the Savoy | Al Cooper | (2:46) | |
| We'd Rather Jump Than Swing | Al Cooper | (2:47) | |
| Draggin' My Heart Around | Alex Hill | Al Cooper | (2:39) |
| Little Sally Water | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (2:28) |
| Jumpin' the Blues | Al Cooper | (2:38) | |
| Love Gave Me You | Al Cooper | (2:42) | |
| When I Grow Too Old to Dream | Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II | Al Cooper | (2:28) |
| Frenzy | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (2:58) |
| (If You Don't Know What You're Doing) Stop! And Ask Somebody | Al Cooper | (2:53) | |
| Wishing and Crying for You | Al Cooper, |
Al Cooper | (2:57) |
| Sophisticated Jump | Al Cooper | (3:08) | |
| Norfolk Ferry | Erskine Hawkins | Al Cooper | (2:55) |
| Second Balcony Jump | Al Cooper | Al Cooper | (2:47) |
| See What I Mean? | Al Cooper | (3:01) | |
| Jackie Boy | Al Cooper | (3:07) |
