MARTY GROSZ
Hooray For Bix! (Good Time Jazz)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Before the term was debased by a couple of generations of formulaic pretenders, this music would have been called Dixieland. A better contemporary tag is simply classic jazz. This is the sounds of the 20s and 30s, reproduced in the 50s by tenor guitarist Marty Grosz, cornetist Carl Halen and the rest of the 8 piece Honoris Causis Jazz Band.

For this 1957 session, Grosz and Halen rearranged a dozen numbers from the songbook of the legendary cornetist, Bix Beiderbecke. There is no real effort to replicate the sound of Bix, but there's a considerable amount of his spirit aboard. All the requisite elements are in place - spirited rhythms, group improvisations dominated by the voices of cornet and clarinet, and a palpable love of the music. These guys are so obviously having so much fun doing what they're doing that you're bound to have fun listening.

This disc is what your grandad might have called a "toe-tapper." Give it a chance and your toes will likely fall right in line.

Track List:

Changes * Cryin' All Day * Lonely Melody * I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now * Sorry * My Pet * The Love Nest * Clementine * Oh, Miss Hannah * Wa-Da-Da (Everybody's Doin' It Now) * For No Reason At All In `C' * Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now

© 2000 - Shaun Dale