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Quite possibly cornetist Jim Cullum has performed before more people than any other living jazz musician. Since 1989, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band has been featured on their nationally syndicated public radio series Riverwalk Jazz on a weekly basis, featuring a different topic or theme during each program. For many listeners, Cullum's group stands for the very best in pre-swing jazz.
Jim Cullum's father, the late Jim Cullum Sr, was an excellent New Orleans-style clarinetist who had played with Jack Teagarden in the 1940s. When the younger Cullum was attending Trinity University in San Antonio in 1962, father and son formed the Happy Jazz Band. The following year the Landing, a jazz club on the San Antonio River Walk, became the band's home. Although it changed locations in 1981, Cullum still plays nightly at the Landing.
In 1973 when Jim Sr. passed away, the group became known as the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. Their radio series has now been on the air for 21 years, Jim Cullum has led his group for 37 and it has been 48 years since the band was originally formed. Few other jazz groups have lasted so long, but the Jim Cullum Jazz Band still plays with enthusiasm, imagination within the genre, and pure joy.
3 Kings Of Jazz is a three-CD set that features the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in the mid-1980s performing a disc apiece of songs associated with Bix Beiderbecke, early Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. At the time, Cullum's front line featured clarinetist Allan Vache and trombonist Randy Reinhart (who sometimes doubled with the band on second cornet). While a few of the jazz pioneers' “hits” are included, there are also many lesser-known tunes that are explored with style and passion. There are hints of the original recordings but Cullum's band does not stick to strict recreations, preferring to play fresh and lively versions of the songs in their own way.
Among the highpoints of the Bix set are “Copenhagen,” “Singin' The Blues” and “Rhythm King.” Louis Armstrong's nine songs include “Potato Head Blues,” “Skid Dat De Dat,” “Struttin' With Some Barbecue” and “Mandy Make Up Your Mind.” Jelly Roll Morton is saluted by such numbers as “The Chant,” “Black Bottom Stomp” and “Wolverine Blues.”
Review
"Traditional jazz fans will certainly want this large sampling of the music of Jim Cullum." -Scott Yanow
"Best known for his hosting and leading the band on the weekly Riverwalk Jazz public radio series, cornetist Jim Cullum has always loved playing Dixieland, 1920s music and swing. The three-CD set 3 Kings Of Jazz features the Jim Cullum Jazz Band playing tribute to Dix Delderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton and early Louis Armstrong by trombonist Randy Reinhart (sometimes doubling on second cornet) in the frontline, Cullum performs spirited and passionate versions of both familiar classics and obscurities that will delight trad jazz fans." -Scott Yanow
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