Little Jazz Giant

Personnel: Roy Eldridge (vocals, trumpet); Clyde Lombardi (vocals, guitar); Carl-Henrik Norin, Buddy Tate (vocals, tenor saxophone); Charlie Norman (vocals, piano, harpsichord); Teddy Brannon, Buster Harding (vocals, piano); Anders Burman, Charlie Smith (vocals, drums); Anita Love, Gladys Palmer, Thore Jederby (vocals); Lucky Fowler, John Collins, Snags Allen, Bob Lessey, Sam Allen, Rolf Berg, Barney Kessel, Carmen Mastren (guitar); Joe Marsala, Ove Lind, Artie Shaw, Buster Bailey (clarinet); Chris Johnson , Edmund "Sahib Shihab" Gregory, Curby Alexander, Sam Lee, Andrew Gardner, Joe Eldridge, Herbie Steward, Chris Johnson , Scoops Carey, Lou Prisby, Porter Kilbert (alto saxophone); Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkins, Jon Walton, George Lawson, Don Byas, Dave Young Orchestra, Albert Ferreri, Walt Lockhart, Franz Jackson, Hal Singer, Ike Quebec, Charles Bowen, Al Green , Tom Archia, Zoot Sims (tenor saxophone); Chuck Gentry, Alan Townsend, Dave McRae , William Boucaya, Cecil Payne (baritone saxophone); Clarence Wheeler, Robert Mason , Tim Grider, Emmett Berry, John "Bugs" Hamilton , Gus Aiken, Henry Clay, Marion Hazel, Leroy Hilton Hill, Pinky Savitt, George Schwartz, David Page , Sylvester Lewis, Sidney DeParis, Bernie Glow, Elmon Wright, Paul Cohen (trumpet); George Stevenson , Sandy Watson, George Wilson, Richard Dunlap, Fred Robinson , Gus Dixon, George Robinson, Nat Atkins, Charles Greenlea, Ted Kelly, Bob Swift, John McConnell, Sandy Williams , Vic Dickenson, Wilbur De Paris, Benny Vasseur, Harry Rodgers, Ollie Wilson (trombone); Claude Bolling, Dick Hyman, Dodo Marmarosa, Duke Jordan, Gerald Wiggins, Tony d'Amore, Rozelle Gayle, Teddy Cole, Johnny Guarnieri, Raymond Fol, Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra (piano); Oscar Peterson (organ); Cozy Cole, Les Erskine, Earl Phillips, Harold "Doc" West, Robert Barnet, Melody Saunders, J.C. Heard , Lee Abrams, Armand Molinetti, Kenny Clarke, Lou Fromm, Big Sid Catlett, Zutty Singleton, Ed Shaughnessy (drums).
Audio Remasterer: Dave Bennett .
Liner Note Author: Peter Vacher.
Director: George Williams .
A three-disc box set from England's Avid Records, Little Jazz Giant tracks trumpeter Roy Eldridge's career from his early work as part of the Delta Four in 1935 through his own efforts to front a swing combo in the late '30s, his work with bandleaders Teddy Hill and Fletcher Henderson, his brilliant early-'40s sides with Gene Krupa, his profitable stay with Artie Shaw, his uncertain position with the modern bop community, and finally, four concluding tracks with Oscar Peterson. In retrospect, it's interesting how many of the most striking cuts here were actually written by Eldridge, including "That Thing," "The Gasser," "Fish Market," "Wild Driver," "Yard Dog," and "They Raided the Joint," each of which has a perceptible modernist edge. Pound for pound, Eldridge was one of the finest upper-range trumpet players jazz has ever produced, and this set has countless examples of his jet-propelled solos (check out his lightning-fast solos in the version of "St. Louis Blues" that is included here). Avid has released each of the discs from this set as single packages as well, entitled The Gasser (1935-1946), Wild Driver (1944-1950), and The Heat's On (1951-1952). ~ Steve Leggett