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King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band – The Gennett Sessions
April 5-6, 1923
Gennett Recording Studio, Richmond, IN

* The songs were taken from The Chronological Classics: King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band 1923.
* The songs were mixed following their catalog numbers’ order.

TRACK LISTING
00:00 Dipper Mouth Blues [Master 11389-B] [King Oliver / Louis Armstrong] [Gennett 5132-A]
02:27 Weather Bird Rag [Master 11388] [Louis Armstrong] [Gennett 5132-B]
05:06 Just Gone [Master 11383-B] [Bill Johnson / King Oliver] [Gennett 5133-A]
07:44 Canal Street Blues [Master 11384-B] [King Oliver / Louis Armstrong] [Gennett 5133-B]
10:14 Mandy Lee Blues [Master 11385-C] [Marty Bloom / Walter Melrose] [Gennett 5134-A]
12:23 I’m Going Away To Wear You Off My Mind [Master 11386-C] [Clarence Johnson / Lloyd Smith / Warren Smith] [Gennett 5134-B]
15:14 Froggie Moore [Master 11390-B] [Reb Spikes / Jelly Roll Morton / John Spikes] [Gennett 5135-A]
18:13 Chimes Blues [Master 11387-A] [King Oliver] [Gennett 5135-B]
21:02 Snake Rag [Master 11391] [A.J. Piron / King Oliver] [Gennett 5184-B]

* Just Gone, Canal Street Blues, Mandy Blues, I’m Going Away To Wear You Off My Mind and Chimes Blues were recorded on April 5, whereas Dipper Mouth Blues, Weather Bird Rag, Froggie Moore and Snake Rag, on April 6.
* I’m Going Away To Wear You Off My Mind is credited to “Smith” only, but it was actually composed by Clarence Johnson, Lloyd Smith and Warren Smith.
* Snake Rag is credited to “Oliver” only, but it was actually composed by A.J. Piron and King Oliver.
* Snake Rag was released b/w Choo Choo Blues [Elmer Barr / William Creager], by Art Landry’s Syncopatin’ Six.

FORMAT
Single / 78 rpm [10-inch] / Mono

PERSONNEL
Arthur “Bud” Scott, Jr. or William Manuel “Bill” Johnson – Banjo & Voice Break
Honoré Dutrey – Trombone
John M. “Johnny” Dodds – Clarinet
Joseph Nathan “King” Oliver – Cornet
Lillian Beatrice “Lil” Hardin – Arrangements, Piano
Louis Daniel Armstrong – Cornet
Warren “Baby” Dodds – Percussion [Woodblocks]

BIOGRAPHY
A key figure in the first period of jazz history, Oliver’s career was a mix of triumph and miscalculation. He was bandleading in New Orleans in the early years of the century, but it wasn’t until the 1910s that he really rose above the other local groups. He went to Chicago in 1919 and created what became the Creole Jazz Band around 1921, which Louis Armstrong joined in 1922. They were a sensation, and made the first important group of records by black jazzmen. His later band, the Dixie Syncopators, was less successful, and turning down an offer from New York’s Cotton Club may have been a crucial mistake (it went to Duke Ellington). Though he was still touring and recording, he was out of fashion by the early ’30s and was often barely able to play, owing to poor teeth. He died in Savannah, Georgia, reduced to working as a pool-hall janitor (COOK, Richard; MORTON, Brian. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 8th edition. London: Penguin Books, 2006, p. 997).