To most people the small town of Richmond, Indiana won’t ring a bell. But those attuned to the seismic events that occurred there a century ago will instantly conjure up such early jazz icons as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, Jelly Roll Morton and The New Orleans River Kings surrounded by primitive recording technology in a converted piano factory – the setting for some of the most famous pioneering jazz records that were made at the Gennett Studios for one of the earliest successful record labels, Gennett Records.
Using such classic compositions as Dippermouth Blues, Wolverine Blues, and Stardust, the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra reimagines these legendary themes and personages for a new century. Arranger Brent Wallarab’s use of extended themes, elasticized time, advanced harmonies, and plush ensemble textures boldly bring these classic compositions into the 21st century.
To help tell the story beyond the music, acclaimed jazz historian John Hasse, Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, writes an astute historical essay that contextualizes the milieu in which jazz and Gennett both took root. Additionally, David Brent Johnson, author and nationally syndicated radio host at Bloomington’s WFIU-FM, analyzes Wallarab’s use of the source material for The Gennett Suite. These essays highlight the 60-plus-page booklet that accompanies the splendidly packaged double-CD.
With The Gennett Suite the acclaimed Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra repurposes music from the Gennett label’s influential early recordings. Wallarab’s reinterpretations lose neither sight nor sound of the source.
The Gennett Suite is designed in four movements with each elevating one of the major jazz tributaries flowing through the Gennett studios in the early 1920s.
Movement 1, Royal Blue, celebrates contemporaries who were pioneers at Gennett: The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong. It opens with two trumpets presenting King Oliver’s famous solo on Dippermouth Blues in a call-and-response as a metaphor for The Great Migration which resulted in millions of southern Black Americans heeding the call to the North as well as the call from Oliver to his protégé Louis Armstrong to join him in Chicago. These calls and their representative responses resulted in the great music of New Orleans spreading through the Midwest, and of Gennett Records based in Richmond, Indiana answering the call to document this great art form. The “Kings” represented in Royal Blue are The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (Tin Roof Blues) and King Oliver (Chimes Blues and Dippermouth Blues). Chimes Blues is featured here through Louis Armstrong’s solo, the first he ever recorded. Soloists on this movement are saxophonists Ned Boyd (baritone), Tom Walsh (tenor), Greg Ward, (soprano), and Todd Williams (tenor), trumpeter Mark Buselli, and trombonist Andrew Danforth.
Movement 2, Blues Faux Bix, spotlights cornetist Bix Beiderbecke whose cooler sound and more measured approach provided a Midwest alternative to the sounds from New Orleans. The title of this movement is inspired by the trend in the 20’s of titling songs as blues when they were anything but. This movement combines several songs recorded by Beiderbecke for Gennett, Bix’s original Davenport Blues, The Jazz Me Blues, and the Jelly Roll Morton classic Wolverine Blues which provided inspiration for the name of Bix’s own band The Wolverines. While the harmony, tempos, and grooves differ significantly from the original recordings, Wallarab keeps the playful tunefulness intact for each piece represented. Soloists on this movement are trumpeters Mark Buselli and Scott Belck, alto saxophonist Amanda Gardier, bassist Jeremy Allen, and pianist Luke Gillespie.
Movement 3, Hoagland, reminds us that one of the earliest architects of the Great American Songbook – Hoagland Howard (“Hoagy”) Carmichael – played his own role in the Gennett story, as a fledgling songwriter and confidant of other musicians on the scene. On Carmichael’s classic Riverboat Shuffle, Wallarab recombines sections of the melody to build suspense and create an irresistible propulsion. But the real highlight is Wallarab’s extraordinary recomposition – and saxophonist Greg Ward’s emotionally transcendent interpretation – of Star Dust, which many consider to be the greatest single American popular song. Other soloists on Hoagland are trumpeter John Raymond, tenor saxophonist Todd Williams, and drummer Sean Dobbins.
Movement 4, Mr. Jelly Lord, honors Jelly Roll Morton, the first notable jazz composer, whose 1923 Gennett collaboration with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings helped put the new studio on the map of American recording. For this movement, Wallarab breaks the tradition of King Porter Stomp being played up-tempo by having the tune slowly simmer along, building swinging steam. Grandpa’s Spells, on the other hand, rollicks with some hints of the “Latin Tinge” Morton himself spoke of and incorporates some of the playful humor that populated so much of Morton’s work. Soloists for this movement are pianist Luke Gillespie, bass trombonist Rich Dole, trumpeters Jeff Conrad and John Raymond, and tenor saxophonist Tom Walsh.
We’re excited to release The Gennett Suite on Patois Records June 9, 2023. The project will be available digitally, on CD and vinyl. Be sure to sign up for our email list for the latest news and pre-order requests.
Celebrating Indiana’s contribution to the recording and distribution of pivotal jazz recordings by pioneering jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong, Hoagy Carmichael, Joe “King” Oliver, Bix Biederbecke, and many more. Charitable, tax-deductible donations may be made through the Indiana Entertainment Foundation.