Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Franz Jackson & the Salty Dogs: Yellow Fire

115

Franz Jackson & the Salty Dogs: Yellow Fire

By

View read count
Franz Jackson & the Salty Dogs: Yellow Fire
Traditional jazz has taken it on the chin of late in Chicago. Once a thriving epicenter for New Orleans and Dixieland revival bands the Windy City is now largely know for its acclaimed free jazz and avant rock scenes. In the larger scheme of the things the shift was slow in coming and unlike the demise of the dinosaurs (which sadly traditionalists have sometimes been compared too) did not transpire in a single cataclysmic event. Fortunately there are still a few faithful practitioners of the older styles still around, among them Franz Jackson and the Salty Dogs. Jackson’s life reads like tour book of jazz history with regular gigs in the ranks of bands led by the likes of Roy Eldridge, Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, Earle Hines and Cootie Williams entries in his pages long resume. According to Paige Van Vorst’s informative liners, the Salty Dogs formed out of Purdue University student jazz band in the late 1940s. Cutting their musical teeth on the then current West Coast traditional jazz variants they eventually became a regular fixture in Chicago.

Jackson, who was nearing his 90th birthday at the time of the recording meshes smoothly with the Salty Dog ensemble sound favoring a throaty tenor tone and a singing sound on soprano. The tunes are a mixed bag of familiar New Orleans favorites and Jackson originals with an emphasis on growling, expressive horns and bouncing rhythms fueled by buoyant traps work, tight banjo and booming brass bass. Collective soloing and polyphony form the crux of many of the arrangements and song lengths are kept succinct. Jackson’s originals prove the most intriguing compositionally with subtle and often inventive shifts in rhythm and time adding spice to the otherwise conventional program. Hints of early Cotton Club era Ellingtonia creep up in Jackson’s own “Zuddan” and “Southside” barrels forward on a brusquely shuffling rhythm. Jackson’s gruff vocals crop up on numerous occasions with sweet-voiced Carol Leigh guesting on “I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me.” While there’s not all that much to distinguish this date from other reunions organized by Delmark in the past it still delivers a rollicking, if predictable repast for fans of traditional jazz.

Track Listing

Dippermouth Blues/ Lulu

Personnel

Lew Green- cornet; Bob Neighbor- trumpet; Tom Bartlett- trombone; Kim Cusack- clarinet, alto saxophone; Franz Jackson- tenor & soprano saxophones, vocals; John Cooper- piano; Mike Walbridge- tuba; Jack Kuncl, banjo; Wayne Jones- drums; Carol Leigh- vocals. Recorded: October 12 & 13, 2000, Chicago, IL.

Album information

Title: Yellow Fire | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Delmark 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.