Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Terry Waldo: Treasury Volume 1

3

Terry Waldo: Treasury Volume 1

Terry Waldo: Treasury Volume 1
Simply stated, and without hyperbole, Terry Waldo is an American musical treasure. He's also a treasure purveyor. A protégé of and mentored by Eubie Blake, Waldo is a player, composer, arranger, author, podcaster, theatrical director, and the noted oracle for ragtime and early American popular music. With Treasury Volume 1 (the first of a three-volume set), Waldo and his all-star Gotham City Band cover ten selections from the embryonic days of American jazz.

Things kick this lively session off with "Blame It on the Blues," a rollicking jaunt that was written in 1914 by Chicago pianist and educator, Charles "Doc" Cook. Ricky Alexander's soprano sax and Mike Davis's muted trumpet take charge in this energized two-step. Waldo offers a pristine solo and banjoist Arnt Arntzen states before a furious out chorus. Vocalist Tatiana Eva-Marie, in a classic vaudevillian vibe, delivers "I Get the Blues When It Rains." It is a highly accurate presentation of the period. Waldo's keys ride throughout "Jelly Roll" Morton's classic "Wolverine Blues." It is an up-tempo trick covered in swinging fashion with a wild Mike Davis trumpet solo and Jay Lepley's furious drumming before the ensemble, in perfect step, takes things to a climax. "Yellow Dog Blues" from W.C. Handy, usually performed as a vocal with its double-entendre lyrics sung by the likes of "Hot Mama" Sophie Tucker and later, Mae West, here is instrumental. Waldo's pounding left and electric right hand commence things in fine fashion before the entire ensemble joins in the joy. This is down home "dirty blues" at its best. A highlight track.

Turtle Bay Records has had great success offering albums of the early and mid-20th Century "hot" music. Treasury Vol. 1 is another ace offering. Leader Waldo and this "stable" of Turtle Bay stalwarts shine across this date and have done so on all their sessions. The music here has all the excitement, devil-may-care whimsy of the period. Further, elements such as time-play, articulation, phrasing and swing require extensive genre knowledge by the musicians and this entire crew from front line to back has that quality in spades.

A pounding rhythm cliché launches the oldie "San" before the entire ensemble enters in a Bixian style. The iconic tune was recorded by Paul Whiteman with Bix Beiderbecke and Jimmy Dorsey in the orchestra. Here Davis spews a fiery solo (including copping a Bix lick) followed by Alexander and trombonist, Jim Fryer. Bassist Brian Nalepka and drummer Jay Lepley follow with their own statements and Waldo's comps. All Hell breaks loose as things come to a crashing close. Vocalist Veronica Swift sings "After You've Gone" in a restrained, sultry manner before scatting and recapping the verse up-tempo and all white-hot. Alexander hits first with a speedy ride, a Freyer trombone solo follows before Davis puts gas on the fire. Swift corrals the crew and takes things down as originally started. It is another stellar track. Using a slick early era set-up—a 1920s studio horn—to record and then later remaster that, Waldo leads the team on Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." It is a nice touch and highly respectful way to close out the session.

Treasury Vol. 1 is a superior music lesson offered by expert stylists. For listeners it is a most enjoyable teleportation device.

Track Listing

Blame It on the Blues; I Get the Blues When It Rains; Wolverine Blues; Yellow Dog Blues; Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home; San; The Frog Song; Tiger Rag; After You’ve Gone; Maple Leaf Rag.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Jim Fryer, Sam Chess: trombone; Amt Amtzen, Nick Russo: banjo; Jerron Paxton: banjo, vocals; Brian Nalepka: bass; Jay Lepley: drums; Tatiana Eva-Marie, Veronica Swift: vocals.

Album information

Title: Treasury Volume 1 | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Turtle Bay Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.