About the album

In it's best years, covered by this very comprehensive double CD, this was one of the most vibrant and exciting bands in existence. Sparked by such top talents a Red Allen, J.C. Higginbotham, Charlie Holmes and Albert Nicholas and driven by the propulsive beat of the great Pops Foster's dynamic bass, the recordings made by Luis Russel between 1926 and 1934 are landmarks of jazz history, unsurpassed in their own idiom.
On it's four star review the 2005 edition op the "Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD" says "The new 2 disc set by Retrieval surpasses all others... it offers the two sessions which Russell made to help out King Oliver (under whose name the titles were issued) and Russell associted dates by the Jungle Town Stompers and J.C. Higginbotham's Six Hicks; there are also several allternative takes making a total of 48 tracks. Re-Masterting and annotation are up to Retrieval's high standards". "...music is in the whole stunning... makes previous re-issues redundant, whilst Dick Sudhalter's notes are of the usual Sudhalter standard and style... need we say more... this set can be called definitive. A must have"
Vintage Jazz Mart