ALBERTA HUNTER - The Alberta Hunter CollectIon 1921 to 1940
Comprehensive 94-Track 4- CD Anthology
Acrobat ACQCD7112
Alberta Hunter ( vocals ) includes recordings with Fletcher Henderson, Eubie Blake, Clarence Williams, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Sidney Bechet, Lovie Austin, Perry Bradford, Charlie Shavers & Buster Bailey
Alberta Hunter was born in Memphis but ran away to Chicago aged eleven and began working at Dago Frank’s Club which lasted eighteen months then began working at various clubs in the Chicago area including the Panama Club and Dreamland.
Moving to New York she worked there throughout the Nineteen Twenties at various clubs and occasional theatre work. Moving to Europe in the early Nineteen Thirties in particular London where she appeared in “Showboat” co-starring with Paul Robeson.
Alberta Hunter gave up singing in 1956 and took up nursing but she returned to the music business in 1960 part time before resuming a full time career in 1977 and began a long residency at the Cookery in Greenwich Village and carved out a whole new career.
Alberta Hunter is a difficult singer to pigeon hole working with the Blues, Vaudeville and Big Band singing but proved popular with all audiences. These recordings cover her early career and she is working with big bands, small groups and duos including many well known jazz musicians.
As you would expect in a collection of this magnitude there are high points and low points over the four discs. The recordings with the Jack Jackson Orchestra made in London some live from the Dorchester Hotel are nothing more than dance band arrangements with vocal refrain and apart from completing the set have little purpose in this collection.
The tracks on CD One from the early Twenties have fairly primitive accompaniment and and are more of historical value, the tracks with Fletcher Henderson’s piano are of interest but suffer from poor quality recording with a degree of surface noise.
The tracks on CD Two with Lovie Austin which have sympathetic accompaniment are a big improvement in particular “Miss Anna Brown”. The most enjoyable track on this CD is Alberta Hunter with the Red Onion Jazz Babies which benefits from Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet in the personnel, “Early Every Mornin’” is a performance to relish.
CD Three has four tracks on which Alberta Hunter is backed by just Mike Jackson on the piano and the starkness of the setting benefits her vocals which sound less strident than on some tracks. There are also three numbers where she is backed by the pipe organ played by Fats Waller, “Sugar” and “Beale Street Blues” are the stand out numbers.
On CD Four there are six tracks with accompaniment by Charlie Shavers and Buster Bailey with some fine solos by both. There are four tracks where Alberta Hunter has the benefit of Eddie Heywood’s piano backing which are well worth a listen.
This release will appeal to admirers of Alberta Hunter and collectors of the period if you are not one of these there is a lot of music to get through and your interest may not sustain the whole set.
Reviewed by Roy Booth
Comprehensive 94-Track 4- CD Anthology
Acrobat ACQCD7112
Alberta Hunter ( vocals ) includes recordings with Fletcher Henderson, Eubie Blake, Clarence Williams, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Sidney Bechet, Lovie Austin, Perry Bradford, Charlie Shavers & Buster Bailey
Alberta Hunter was born in Memphis but ran away to Chicago aged eleven and began working at Dago Frank’s Club which lasted eighteen months then began working at various clubs in the Chicago area including the Panama Club and Dreamland.
Moving to New York she worked there throughout the Nineteen Twenties at various clubs and occasional theatre work. Moving to Europe in the early Nineteen Thirties in particular London where she appeared in “Showboat” co-starring with Paul Robeson.
Alberta Hunter gave up singing in 1956 and took up nursing but she returned to the music business in 1960 part time before resuming a full time career in 1977 and began a long residency at the Cookery in Greenwich Village and carved out a whole new career.
Alberta Hunter is a difficult singer to pigeon hole working with the Blues, Vaudeville and Big Band singing but proved popular with all audiences. These recordings cover her early career and she is working with big bands, small groups and duos including many well known jazz musicians.
As you would expect in a collection of this magnitude there are high points and low points over the four discs. The recordings with the Jack Jackson Orchestra made in London some live from the Dorchester Hotel are nothing more than dance band arrangements with vocal refrain and apart from completing the set have little purpose in this collection.
The tracks on CD One from the early Twenties have fairly primitive accompaniment and and are more of historical value, the tracks with Fletcher Henderson’s piano are of interest but suffer from poor quality recording with a degree of surface noise.
The tracks on CD Two with Lovie Austin which have sympathetic accompaniment are a big improvement in particular “Miss Anna Brown”. The most enjoyable track on this CD is Alberta Hunter with the Red Onion Jazz Babies which benefits from Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet in the personnel, “Early Every Mornin’” is a performance to relish.
CD Three has four tracks on which Alberta Hunter is backed by just Mike Jackson on the piano and the starkness of the setting benefits her vocals which sound less strident than on some tracks. There are also three numbers where she is backed by the pipe organ played by Fats Waller, “Sugar” and “Beale Street Blues” are the stand out numbers.
On CD Four there are six tracks with accompaniment by Charlie Shavers and Buster Bailey with some fine solos by both. There are four tracks where Alberta Hunter has the benefit of Eddie Heywood’s piano backing which are well worth a listen.
This release will appeal to admirers of Alberta Hunter and collectors of the period if you are not one of these there is a lot of music to get through and your interest may not sustain the whole set.
Reviewed by Roy Booth
