The Kid Ory Collection 1922-28

Kid Ory was one of the most significant and influential personalities in early jazz, originating what came to be called the “tail-gating” style of trombone playing, with the instrument used to emphasise the rhythmic line behind the trumpet, cornet and clarinet. He featured in many of the most important recordings in the first few years of the commercial recording of jazz, first in Los Angeles, where he moved in 1919 from new Orleans, and then in Chicago, working with other luminaries based there. His career took a break during the 1930s before he returned to figure in the Dixieland revival era, so this great-value 47-track 2-CD set focuses on those key years during the 1920s when he recorded with the likes of King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five, Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers, and other notable ensembles, to help produce some of the landmark recordings of the era, including, of course, his own famous composition “Ory’s Creole Trombone”. It’s an entertaining cross-section of the music of the time, and a great showcase for his highly distinctive style, as well as an opportunity to hear some of the best players in the early years of the genre.