Slim Gaillard - Scat, Swing & Surrealism feat. Slim & Slam 1938-52 (2026)

Slim Gaillard (Bulee Gaillard) was one of the most unusual musicians in mid-century American jazz: a multi-instrumentalist equally at home on guitar, piano and saxophones, who also invented his own slang, “Vout” — a playful hipster gibberish he wove through his songs. In the 1930s in Harlem he formed a duo with bassist Slam Stewart, and Slim & Slam married genuine swing syncopation to a humor that dismantled the rigid conventions of the popular music of the day. This 16-track vinyl retrospective covers fifteen years at the peak of his career, from acoustic street-corner swing to the explosive independent scene of the post-war West Coast.

Side A gathers the foundational hits of Slim & Slam: the 1938 pop sensation “Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)” and the rhythmically infectious “Laughing in Rhythm”. Side B moves to post-war Los Angeles, where Gaillard enjoyed total creative freedom. It features the national hit “Cement Mixer (Put-Ti Put-Ti)” and the darkly satirical “Atomic Cocktail”, in which he turned the stuff of American culture into pure comic rhythm. The collection peaks with “Yep-Roc-Heresy”, a legendary bebop meeting with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The remaster brings out Gaillard’s blistering electric guitar and driving boogie piano, making the record a monument to an era when jazz was at once sophisticated, rhythmically revolutionary and gloriously insane.

Tracklist:
01-01 Slim & Slam - Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy) [2:49]
01-02 Slim & Slam - Tutti Frutti [2:38]
01-03 Slim & Slam - Jump Session [2:37]
01-04 Slim & Slam - Laughing in Rhythm [2:37]
01-05 Slim & Slam - Vol Vistu Gaily Star [2:44]
01-06 Slim Gaillard & His Flat-Foot Floogee Boys - Chicken Rhythm [3:08]
01-07 Slim Gaillard & His Flat-Foot Floogee Boys - Slim Slam Boogie [2:44]
01-08 Slim Gaillard Trio - Scotchin' With Soda [2:43]
01-09 Slim Gaillard Trio - Cement Mixer (Put-Ti Put-Ti) [3:17]
01-10 Slim Gaillard Quartette - Atomic Cocktail [2:39]
01-11 Slim Gaillard Quartette - Yep-Roc-Heresy [3:05]
01-12 Slim Gaillard Quartette - Jumpin' At The Record Shop [3:11]
01-13 Slim Gaillard Orchestra - The Flat Foot Floogie [2:33]
01-14 Slim Gaillard And His Trio - Down By the Station [2:22]
01-15 Slim Gaillard And His Trio - Serenade to a Poodle [2:17]
01-16 Slim Gaillard - Potato Chips [3:04]