From Dixie to Swing

Accompaniment: Kenny Davern, clarinet & soprano sax; 'Doc' Cheatham, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Dick Wellstood, piano; George Duvivier, bass; Gus Johnson Jr. , drums - Such jazz legends as Dick Wellstood, Alphonse 'Doc' Cheatham and George Duvivier and more back you up in this amazing collection of New York-style Dixieland standards. After the break-up of the big-band era around 1950, many of the finest 'swing' or mainstream players found themselves without an outlet for their abilities and took to playing 'Dixieland' in New York clubs such as Eddie Condon's and the Metropole. And so was born a new style of Dixieland jazz minus the banjos, tubas, steamboats and magnolias! It is this version we celebrate on this album. We encourage you, the soloist, to invent counter-melodies rather than mere harmony parts. This is a music of loose weaving parts, not one of precision ensemble figures. And in short, it is one of the greatest improvisational experiences any jazz player could hope to have.