Happy (Belated) Birthday, Allan Reuss!
/I meant to get something up yesterday, but I didn't have a chance. As luck would have it, it worked out because thanks to Matt Munisteri, who shared this yesterday on facebook, I get to share with all of you a new discovery - a great Allan Reuss performance with a great solo that's never been released on CD. And even
bigger thanks are owed to Tohru Seya who's posted an amazing collection of rare 78's, including this new Reuss solo, as well as several other great recordings featuring Allan Reuss.
Here is the information provided by Tohru Seya:
Allan's solo is first up after the head, and, wow. Classic Allan Reuss chord melody soloing. There's not much I can say, except "wow".
Also, of note, I just picked up some Harry James airchecks from the mid-40's that, if the liner notes/discography is to be believed, features Allan Reuss taking some single-string ELECTRIC guitar solos. Also, there appears to be a live version of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" where somebody beside Allan Reuss is having to play at Allan's chord-melody interludes. I'll try to get those posted soon.
Lastly, one of my obsessions lately, has been the brief period in 1943 where many of Benny Goodman's best almuni returned to the band all at once. Reuss, Jess Stacy, Hymie Schertzer and even Gene Krupa (following his 1943 pot bust) all rejoined the band for a short period of magic.
Here's perhaps the most blazing performance that was captured, a redux of Fletcher Henderson's 1936 arrangement of "I've Found a New Baby". This 1943 performance is absolutely ferral - so intense!
An MP3 album, Benny Goodman - "The Forgotten Year 1943" is available from amazon.com for $7, but since it's a digital download, there are no liner notes. Also, the sound quality is fair to pretty terrible tune-to-tune. Still, several of the tunes are revalatory!
