Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - The Chronological Classics: 1948-1952 (2005)

Tracklist

01. Happy Birthday (2:32)
02. Black Pepper (2:39)
03. Jumpin' with Maxie-Waxie (2:48)
04. Randy's Boogie (2:33)
05. In the Dozens (2:45)
06. Sure Like to Run (2:27)
07. She's My Baby (2:37)
08. Notoriety Woman (2:26)
09. Mountain Oysters (2:41)
10. Huckle Boogie (2:46)
11. Intermission Riff (3:16)
12. This Is Always (3:15)
13. Lockjaw Goes Latin (2:41)
14. How High the Moon (3:04)
15. I'm Gonna Eat You with a Spoon (2:42)
16. Little Rock (Sweet and Lovely) (3:21)
17. If the Motif Is Right (3:28)
18. The Lock (Squattin') (3:26)
19. My Blue Heaven (2:34)
20. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone (2:46)
21. Bewitched (2:50)
22. Blues in My Heart (2:44)
23. There's No You (2:44)
24. Slow Squat (2:37)
25. Hey Lock (3:11)
26. I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande (3:10)

The Classics Chronological Series presents the second installment in the complete recordings of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. This grab bag of historical rarities opens with a slightly giddy jump version of "Happy Birthday," punctuated with periodic birthday wishes shrieked by the band. Lockjaw prefaces the tune with a bit of nonchalant patter and ends it with a kiss! This rowdy novelty and three subsequent blowing tracks from the same 1948 session were originally released on the Sittin' in With record label. Supported by a solid ensemble including trumpet, trombone, and alto and baritone saxophones, Jaws turns in some of his best toothy playing, most satisfyingly on the gutsy "Randy's Boogie." The next four tracks, recorded March 17, 1949, for the Regent record label, feature somewhat sloppy rasping R&B vocals by "Chicago" Carl Davis, billed here as King Karl. Two gutbucket King recordings made six months later have ensemble vocals praising the virtues of boogie-woogie and braised hog testicles. This hot little group had Bill Doggett at the piano and Kansas City Jo Jones behind the drums. Four sides recorded for the Domino label before the end of 1949 signal a welcome return to honest early modern jazz. Although the enclosed discography fails to identify the composer, there's little doubt that "Intermission Riff" was written by trumpeter Ray Wetzel. The version heard here is extraordinarily solid and groovy. It is followed with a gorgeous ballad, a spicy Caribbean jam, and a soaring version of "How High the Moon" with a very funny vocal by an unidentified singer who sounds a lot like Babs Gonzales. Husky-voiced Carl Davis returns to the Lockjaw Davis discography on two of four titles cut for the Birdland record label in February of 1950. The two instrumentals, "Little Rock" and especially "The Lock," are marvelous examples of this saxophonist's early maturity. And get this: the backing band had guitarist Al Casey and 18-year-old Wynton Kelly at the piano. The rest of the material reissued here consists of eight Royal Roost recordings made in New York during the year 1952. Both of these Roost sessions were early examples of the organ combo, a configuration that Lockjaw Davis would help to establish over the years. These tracks are prime examples of early organ groove music with either Bill Doggett or Billy Taylor at the keyboard, Freddie Green sitting in on guitar, and the combined genius of Oscar Pettiford and Shadow Wilson.