Little Willie Jackson - Jazz Me Blues: The Legendary Modern Recordings (2000)

This is a comprehensive anthology of Jackson's late-'40s Modern sessions: both sides of six 1947-1948 singles, plus a dozen previously unreleased cuts (including some alternate takes). It's another in what is apparently a never-ending series of Ace compilations showcasing early Modern artists pivotal to the transition between swing jazz and jump blues, even if they (like Jackson) are virtually forgotten half a century later. Unlike some, perhaps most, of such Modern artists, Jackson might be more accurately classified as a jazz musician than a blues/R&B one. Boogie instrumentals are mixed with vocal outings in the Louis Armstrong/Cab Calloway mold, often favoring jazz and pop songs that, even by 1948, were on the verge of passing out of fashion. Jackson was a pleasantly passable singer with a slightly lower-than-normal register, though no great shakes. The recordings are more notable for the playing of the Honeydrippers, who, of course, are more known for their work on more famous records by Joe Liggins. The best numbers on the disc are those that are the bluesiest and loosest, such as the instrumentals "Jackson's Boogie" and "Watts Local," or "The Peanut Vendor" with its Mardi Gras-type rhythms. "Black and Blue" has some (muted) racial commentary in its doleful lyrics about the problems of being black, though these are subtle enough that it can almost be missed on casual hearing, and certainly too subtle to qualify this as an out-and-out protest song. The sound is very good considering the age of the source recordings.


Tracks:

1. Watts Local
2. Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night
3. Jackson's Boogie
4. I Ain't Got Nobody
5. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
6. FST
7. Black And Blue
8. The Peanut Vendor
9. Someday, Somehow, Somewhere
10. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
11. Let's Jump
12. Muddy Water
13. Little Willie's Boogie
14. You Can Depend On Me
15. 58th Street Jump
16. There'll Be Some Changes Made
17. Baby
18. Shasta
19. St. Louis Blues
20. My Baby's Blues
21. St. Louis Blues (alternate take)
22. The Peanut Vendor (alternate take)
23. Jackson's Boogie (alternate take)
24. Muddy Water (alternate take)