[Dixielandjazz] "Blind Willie Dunn", King Oliver and Tommy Dorsey

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

The matter of who plays trumpet on the Blind Willie Dunn (BWD) 
recordings has become a touch confused. Bob Smith and Glen Page's 
reference to Laurie Wright's 1987 book on King Oliver needs some qualifying.

Page 109 - the 23 November 1928 recordings of /In the bottle blues/ and 
/What ya want me to do/ are by Clarence Williams & his Novelty Four and 
I don't think anybody now argues for the trumpet player being anybody 
other than King Oliver. These are not BWD recordings and the only thing 
they have in common with the BWD recordings of May 1929 is the presence 
of Eddie Lang.

Page118 - the 1 May 1929 BWD recordings of /Jet black blues/ and /Blue 
blood blues/. The only thing on which there is general agreement is that 
the guitar players are Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson. I agree with Bill 
Haesler and Laurie Wright - the trumpet player is not Oliver and is 
probably Tommy Dorsey. We're in good company - Tommy Dorsey (pers. com. 
to Ken Crawford) confirmed his presence on these recordings.

All the best,
Anton