Buster Bailey - All About Memphis (1958 Felsted)

Lp original release

Lp re-issue

1 Bear Wallow
2 Hatton Avenue and Gayoso Street
3 Sunday Parade
4 Beale Street Blues
5 Memphis Blues
6 Chicasaw Bluff
7 Hot Water Bayou

Recording Date
Feb 13, 1958-Feb 27, 1958
Label Felsted

Review by Scott Yanow
Buster Bailey was one of the top clarinetists to emerge during the 1920s but he led relatively few sessions throughout his long career. This LP features Bailey with a quartet (along with pianist Red Richards, bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Jimmie Crawford) and, with the horns of trumpeter Herman Autrey, trombonist Vic Dickenson and altoist Hilton Jefferson added, a septet. In addition to W.C. Handy tunes, the other five songs are Bailey originals that mix together swing and the flavor of New Orleans jazz. It's a fine outing for the classic clarinetist.


Biography by Scott Yanow
Buster Bailey was a brilliant clarinetist who, although known for his smooth and quiet playing with John Kirby's sextet, occasionally really cut loose with some wild solos (including on a recording called Man With a Horn Goes Berserk). Expertly trained by the classical teacher Franz Schoepp (who also taught Benny Goodman), Bailey worked with W.C. Handy's band in 1917. He moved to Chicago in 1919 and was soon working with Erskine Tate and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. He gained some fame in 1924 when he joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra in New York. Bailey was with Henderson off and on during 1924-1934 and 1936-1937, also playing with Noble Sissle and the Mills Blue Rhythm Band (1934-1935). Next up was the cool-toned swing of John Kirby's sextet (1937-1946), a role he fit perfectly. With the end of the Kirby band, Bailey was mostly employed in Dixieland settings with Wilbur DeParis (1947-1949), Big Chief Russell Moore (1952-1953), Henry Red Allen (1950-1951 and 1954-1960), Wild Bill Davison (1961-63), and the Saints and Sinners (1963-1965), finishing up with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars (1965-1967). One of the most technically skilled of the clarinetists to emerge during the 1920s, Buster Bailey never modernized his style or became a leader, but he contributed his talents and occasional wit to a countless number of rewarding and important recordings.