Trombonist Albert Wynne and his Creole Jazz Band recorded this wonderful jazz stomp in 1928 and I would say it’s a New Orleans classic, but it was recorded in Chicago! Wynne and the band were based in Chicago for their whole career, although they toured all of America and Europe. But no matter, this is indeed a very NOLA sound, for all time probably, and especially back then.

Features the little-known New Orleans hero, Punch Miller, on trumpet and scat singing solo. Although little-known in the wider world of jazz, he is a cult favorite of jazz 78s collectors. R. Crumb the comic artist and famous 78rpm record collector adored Miller’s many sides and even paid tribute to him by painting his portrait for one of his 36 Early Jazz Greats, a set of trading cards.

 

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This Latin side from 1933, on the Brunswick label, is a terrific little rhumba, and the bottle percussion is just the perfect, final piece for the arrangement. Palm trees, sea, and sun come to mind immediately when this tune gets going. Mr. Molina, who was born in Puerto Rico in 1899, was a very popular orchestra leader for about 40 years or so, and he had a big role in introducing tango and rhumba to Californians in the 1940s. And though his 78s are tough to track down in any condition, I found this one, and luckily in Excellent shape – “dime” (di-me) is “tell me” in Spanish.

 

Carlos Molina - Dime