James Reese Europe

James Reese Europe - James Reese Europe

James Reese Europe
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Music CD Cover

Artist: James Reese Europe
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-12-25
Music Label: IAJRC Records
Soundtracks:
  1. I've Got the Blue Ridge Blues/Madelin/Till We Meet Again
  2. St. Louis Blues
  3. How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?
  4. Arabian Nights
  5. Indianola
  6. Darktown Strutters' Ball
  7. Hesitating Blues
  8. Plantation Echoes
  9. That Moaning Trombone
  10. Memphis Blues
  11. Russian Rag
  12. Ja-Da
  13. Mirandy
  14. On Patrol in No Man's Land
  15. Jazz Baby
  16. All of No Man's Land Is Ours
  17. Jazzola
  18. When the Bees Make Honey
  19. Dancing Deacon
  20. That's Got 'Em
  21. Clarinet Marmalade
  22. Missouri Blues
  23. Dixie Is Dixie Once More
  24. My Choc'late Soldier Sammy Boy

Free Music Notes for James Reese Europe

Free Music Review: Historically significant recordings, off-center masters
Hit: 4 Stars

The other reviews posted here are correct as to the historical value, as well as the entertainment value, of these recordings. James Europe's place in Jazz history is beyond dispute. I take issue with the re-mastering process.

Some of the discs that these samples were taken from were not properly centered on the turntable during mastering. It varies from song to song from barely noticeable ("Mirandy", "Dixie is Dixie Once More") to sickening ("Broadway Hit Medley", "Plantation Echoes"). A little more care would have made for a more enjoyable CD.

The disc noise is not that much of a problem - it is endemic to the process, especially for acoustic Pathe discs (which is what these are). I could handle the surface noise if it weren't for the pitch bending with every revolution of the original disc.

I haven't heard the other re-issue of these recordings yet; I just hope it's better.

James Reese Europe Poster

James Reese Europe was a major figure in New York's African American musical community in the years leading up to World War?I. He collaborated with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle and worked closely with the popular dance team of Vernon and Irene Castle. With the outbreak of war, Europe formed the Hell Fighters Band, part of the African American 369th U.S. Infantry. The band returned to the U.S. to great acclaim in February 1919, and the 24 tracks heard here were recorded in New York between March 3 and May 7 of that year. Two days later, Europe was stabbed to death by a disgruntled drummer, Herbert Wright, during an intermission in a Boston concert.

Though he was a titanic figure--he was the first African American officer to lead men into battle and Eubie Blake called him "the savior of Negro musicians"--Europe's fame soon turned to obscurity. In 1995, Reid Bodger's thorough biography of Europe, A Life in Ragtime, appeared, rekindling widespread interest, and the following year saw the appearance of this music on two different CDs. A large band of brass, reeds, and percussion, with vocals by Noble Sissle, Europe's orchestra plays the popular music of the day with a distinctive spirit and a marked rhythmic fluency uncommon in orchestral ragtime. W.C. Handy is prominent in the repertoire ("St. Louis Blues," "Hesitating Blues," "Memphis Blues"). The songwriting team of Europe, Blake, and Sissle ranges in their subject matter from "Jazz Baby" to the wartime experiences of "No-Man's Land." Europe's associate Tom Bethel contributed "That Moaning Trombone" with its vocal effects, while "Clarinet Marmalade" comes from the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Despite the references to jazz, though, this is a band poised on the jazz era, not a jazz band, with improvisation largely limited to brief "breaks." Songs from White and African American composers alike contribute to the complex representation of black life in America, one alive with both stereotypes and new possibilities.

Another edition of these 24 recordings, James Reese Europe's 369th U.S. Infantry "Hell Fighters" Band, appeared a few months later on Memphis Archive with the tracks arranged in an order that would resemble a Europe concert rather than organized chronologically, as they are here. Both versions provide a worthwhile portrait of a major figure in American music; however, they also represent slightly different philosophies of sound restoration. The IAJRC preserves much of the static to avoid loss of detail; the Memphis Archive is much cleaner and generally far more listenable. The Memphis Archive edition also contains far more supporting material, a detailed 44-page account of Europe's life and music by Tim Gracyk. --Stuart Broomer

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