It's The Way That You Swing It - The Hits Of Jimmie Lunceford ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED 2CD SET
(The Lunceford band was highly innovative both musically a...)
The Lunceford band was highly innovative both musically and visually and that may explain why it did not receive the recognition that it's performances deserved. It could stand comparison with any band of the period and at one time or another, it beat all the other well-known bands in the 'Battle Of The Bands' that took place regularly at dance halls around America. Looking back, it is difficult to understand why it did not reach the level of esteem with the general public that was enjoyed by bands that were not in the same class musically. The ability of the band did not pass without note by other bandleaders and Glenn Miller is reported as saying that Jimmie Lunceford had 'the best of all bands'. He went on to say 'Duke is great, Basie is remarkable, but Lunceford tops them both.
The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (Mosaic #250)
(Lunceford's Decca period began in 1934, and coincided wit...)
Lunceford's Decca period began in 1934, and coincided with his booking at The Cotton Club, an important launch pad for so many bands of the Swing Era. It was a reputation-making engagement for Lunceford whose dedication to expert musicianship, was something you'd expect from a man who had been a music educator before taking his former high school band on tour. His line-up remained intact through much of its span, which helped fuse the Lunceford style. He was also a consummate showman, who rehearsed his band endlessly through blistering ensemble sections while incorporating visually enthralling choreography that included the trumpets throwing their horns into the air in unison and catching them on cue. While other bands are remembered for their soloists, Lunceford's was largely an ensemble band and his arrangers were the stars. Pianist Ed Wilcox, alto saxophonist Willie Smith and trumpeter Sy Oliver had molded the Lunceford sound with daring harmonies and intricate rhythm rarely heard outside of Ellington and few other bands. Guitarist and trombonist Eddie Durham's arrangements were also a key element to the sound and later on young Gerald Wilson and Tadd Dameron became important contributors to the Lunceford book. Which is not to say that Lunceford lacked choice soloists. Oliver and Smith were important musical voices, as were tenor saxophonist Joe Thomas, Durham and trombonist Trummy Young. Jimmy Crawford made sure no one would ever think about needing a different drummer. Willie Smith played another leading role as the saxophone section leader who trained the rest in their fiery fingering, and still another as one of the bands vocalists, which also included Oliver, Thomas and Young. Remastering the entire catalog was Andreas Meyer, who did an amazing job on our Artie Shaw and Louis Armstrong sets and we were fortunate to coax Eddy Determeyer, author of the Lunceford biography "Rhythm is Our Business," to write our exclusive Mosaic booklet.
James Melvin Lunceford was an American musician and bandleader. He was a founder of a student band in 1927 that amassed several talented young players and became famous in the early 1930s-1940s.
Background
James Melvin Lunceford was born on June 6, 1902, in Fulton, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of James, a choirmaster in Warren, Ohio, and Idella ("Ida") Shumpert. Seven months after James was born, the family moved to Oklahoma City and then to Denver.
Education
Lunceford went to high school in Denver and studied music under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman, whose band was soon to acquire a national reputation. Later he obtained a Bachelor of Music degree at Fisk University and pursued graduate studies at the City College of New York.
Career
During 1922, Lunceford played alto saxophone in a local band led by George Morrison and including Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader. Leaving Denver, Lunceford went to Fisk University in Nashville. He gained further musical experience during summer vacations in bands led by Wilbur Sweatman and Elmer Snowden and at City College in New York. By 1926, he was a capable performer on saxophones, flute, trombone, and guitar.
He had also been prominent in sports; indeed, his ability in football, baseball, basketball, and track events eventually led to an appointment as athletic instructor at Manassa High School in Memphis. There he also began to teach music, and he soon formed a jazz band among his pupils. They included drummer Jimmy Crawford and bassist Moses Allen, who were to remain important and dependable associates for many years. Among other musicians who assisted him greatly in the formative period of this band and brought it up to professional standards were saxophonist Willie Smith and pianist Ed Wilcox, two of several young friends who joined him after they graduated from Fisk. Lunceford credited visits to Memphis by the Texas-based band of Alphonso Trent with being a major source of inspiration, and this was reflected not only in arrangements written by Wilcox and Smith but also in those by Sy Oliver, a trumpet player who joined the band in 1933. Oliver had been a member of Trent's band for several months, and he soon proved to be an original and imaginative arranger. He was extremely resourceful in extracting a variety of orchestral colors from the limited instrumentation available to him, and he had an exceptional gift for unusual, but highly effective, tempos. Most jazz performances by this time were built on a rhythmic basis of four beats to the bar, but Oliver delighted in the emphasis of two to the bar as inherited from pioneering New Orleans groups. Although Wilcox wrote with special skill for saxophones, it was Oliver, more than anyone else, who shaped and defined the Lunceford style, making it one of the most influential in jazz history.
Unlike many other black bands of the Swing Era, Lunceford's was renowned for its discipline. Apart from his astute choice of musicians, this was the leader's most significant contribution, particularly since it did not result in a dampening of enthusiasm. A tall, well-built, serious man, Lunceford was several years older than his men, and this, added to his experience in exercising authority as a teacher, enabled him to keep firm control. He instilled a sense of responsibility at all levels, and the value of teamwork was soon acknowledged by public acclaim and critical recognition. He confined himself mostly to conducting, but the band's sections (brass, reeds, and rhythm) were rehearsed separately and then together, each vying with the other in terms of precision. Punctuality and good appearance were stressed. The band was also notable for the attention it gave to entertainment values, and it became virtually a show in itself.
At one time, Lunceford featured a glee club made up of members of the band; it was very popular, but when other bands copied the idea, he discarded it. In much reduced form, however, it survived in the vocal trio that was greatly responsible for the success of his versions of "My Blue Heaven, " "Ain't She Sweet?" and "Cheatin' on Me. " Solo vocalists, moreover, were always an essential part of his presentation. Ballads were entrusted to male singers with high, sentimental voices, their efforts often being succeeded by ensemble passages played, in complete contrast, with a powerful rhythmic emphasis. On other material, and equally typical, musicians like the saxophonists Joe Thomas and Willie Smith, trombonist Trummy Young, and Sy Oliver were responsible for vocal choruses, which they delivered with whimsical humor and relaxed jazz phrasing.
Following its first professional engagement in Memphis in 1929, Lunceford's band knew several difficult years before it appeared at the Lafayette Theatre in New York in 1933. A few months later, it was engaged at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where Duke Ellington had previously triumphed. It also began a long series of recordings, which brought international attention. Sy Oliver left to join Tommy Dorsey in 1939, but the band's popularity was undiminished. At the peak of his success, Lunceford was able to indulge in what he referred to as his only vice--his passion for flying. He owned his own plane, and he was a pilot. Although he hired other capable arrangers such as Billy Moore, Ed Inge, Don Redman, and Gerald Wilson, the established character of the band was no longer maintained.
In 1941, an appearance in the film Blues in the Night led to a record hit of the same name, but it was the band's last. Thereafter, the exigencies of World War II were responsible for a steady decline in Lunceford's fortunes. There were problems with the drafting of band members, with transportation, with incessant one-night stands, and with grown men who, as the faithful Ed Wilcox put it, no longer wanted to be treated like the "little boys" that left Memphis with their teacher years before. One by one, Willie Smith, Jimmy Crawford, Trummy Young, and Moses Allen quit, and the band never recovered from the effect of their departure. Lunceford was taken suddenly ill with a heart attack in 1947 while autographing records in a music store in Seaside, Oregon, and died on his way to the hospital.