[Dixielandjazz] Wild Bill Davison with Strings - Again!

[Graham Martin]

Tom Saunders said:

[Hi,

Anne Davison pushed harder and harder to get the string albums
re-released and thank God for good friend Mat Domber who got the job
done. Please understand that all the Columbia stuff is owned by Sony (as
I understand it), so gettin the masters was no easy job. 

YES, they are on Arbor Records. Thank you Mat!

Cheers,
Tom Saunders]

Hi Tom, I guess nobody would know better than you. 

When I was talking about this earlier with another member I mentioned that I had the original 'Pretty Wild' on a treasured LP but had never heard 'With Strings Attached' and would have killed for a copy of it. The advice about the availability from Arbors Records saved me from doing that and I duly placed an order.

I am down in Oz so it took a few days to turn up but I'm listening to it right now and the whole production is superb! I was very pleasantly surprised with the new-to-me 'With Strings Attached' part of the CD because it has some lovely solos by Cutty Cutshall and Bob Wilber, as well as some regular Condon rhythm section guys. There are even a couple of Condonish type ensembles - with strings attached of course. What a lovely surprise after 47 years of waiting to hear it!

For me, I think Wild Bill Davison will always be the ultimate lead player in a Chicago style ensemble and I can still feel the Goosebumps I got the first time his toured the U.K. with Eddie Condon. I heard him live several times after that with the Alex Welsh Band and others and he never failed to impress me. Hey, some of you newer guys get close but Wild William is just the tops. 

If anybody has meaning to order the CD, do it now before Arbors run out. Actually they are fast becoming my favourite jazz record company now that Nagel-Heyer seems to have gone off the boil. And I'm still waiting to hear from someone the fate of Wild Bill's main recording company Jazzology, after Katrina. 

Best,

Grah

Graham Martin
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