Record of the day: Louis Jordan, “…and His Tympany Five”

Louis Jordan, “Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five” (5 Cd JSP JAZZBOX 903)

If you are thinking of a gift to put under the Christmas tree, this 5-CD box containing over 130 Louis Jordan songs is exactly what you need (considering that it is sold at a very low price and the recordings are of perfect quality).

If you like rhythm and blues and swing you can’t help but get to know this irresistible multi-talented musician (he was a singer, dancer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, actor) who was one of the most successful African-American artists of the mid-1990s. 30 and the 50s and should also be considered one of the inventors of rock’n’roll thanks to the sensational hit “Saturday Night Fish Fry”, whose style was subsequently copied verbatim by white musicians such as Bill Haley (see case produced by Milt Gabler, who had worked with Jordan for years) and introduced into American middle class families as if it were a novelty (Jordan himself was aware of this theft and mentioned it in several interviews).

His music is a lot of fun, not only because of the skill and energy that Jordan and his band Tympany Five put into every single performance, but also thanks to lyrics full of absurd puns and naughty overtones (“Show Me How You Milk the Cow” is one of the most double-entendre lyrics imaginable) and to the often ironic interpretations with which Jordan characterized the characters of the songs. His pieces have been interpreted both by jazz musicians such as Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald (with whom Louis had collaborated in Chick Webb’s band) and Louis Armstrong, but also by artists belonging to other styles such as BB King, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry and James Brown, who often acknowledged his artistic debt to Jordan; in recent years Joe Jackson has released an entire album dedicated to Jordan’s repertoire (“Jumpin’Jive”).

In this giant box set you’ll find everything from early hits like “Honey in the Bee Ball,” “Knock Me a Kiss” and “A Chicken ain’t Nothing But a Bird” to the songs that earned Jordan the nickname King of the Jukebox; “Your Socks Don’t Match”, (performed with Bing Crosby), “Caldoni”a, “Petootie Pie”, “How Long Must I Wait for You”, “Let the Good Times Roll” and dozens of others, all beautiful and able to give you energy with a consistent dose of joy,

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.