[78-L] Jimmy Lytell on Pathe

[Mark Bardenwerper]

On 2/2/2014 12:44 PM, Julian Vein wrote:
> On 02/02/14 06:14, Mark Bardenwerper wrote:
>> On 2/1/2014 11:58 PM, Mark Bardenwerper wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> I would like to know whether banjoist Lou Calabrese performed on any of
>>> Lytell's Pathes from the mid 20's.
>>> Their numbers are:
>>> 36568
>>> 36584
>>> 36665
>>> 36717
>>> 26741
>>> 36775
>>> 36824
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance!
>>>
>> Sorry also
>> 36607
>>
>> 36775 Davenport Blues is definitely Lou.
> ===============
> Lord 10.0 doesn't show him on any session. 36775 gives Harry Reser.
> There is a Lytell CD on Jazz Oracle. Perhaps they have a more up-to-date
> personnel?
>
Got the disk today. The only record that Lou is on is obviously 36775. 
The rest of the banjo work is quite pedestrian, though Jimmy shines, 
particularly on Why Be Blue.

The liner notes reflect my assertion.
"Sometime listed as Harry Reser, the banjoist is almost certainly Lou 
Calabrese, Lytell's colleague from the Capitol Theatre. (Reser and 
Lytell did accompany Annette Hanshaw on some immediately preceding 
matrices, but Reser's playing on those is much different from what we 
hear on these Lytell solos.)" (sic) Both Lytell and Calabrese are 
featured in the "hottest man in the band" contest in the widely known 
filmed performance by Walt Roesner's Capitolians. The banjoists use of a 
mute and the shrill Pathe recording make the instrument sound more like 
a guitar.

This version of Davenport must be among the fastest ever recorded. 
Calabrese's rapid fire runs up and down the fingerboard tend to wear, 
especially with multiple takes. Even when doing his best to keep up, 
Lytell is more thoughtful - his fast passage sounds much like Jazz Me 
Blues".

My impression differs from his. I say that when Jimmy was with musicians 
who came up to his level of talent, his playing rose the the occasion.

-- 
Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr.

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