Centennial Tribute to King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band

This is our Centennial Tribute To King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. Recorded at the New Orleans Jazz Museum April 6, 2023. Oliver is still the king!

100 years ago in April of 1923 Joe “King” Oliver took his Creole Jazz Band to record at the Gennet Studios in Richmond Indiana. In addition to Oliver on cornet, the personnel included his protégé Louis Armstrong on second cornet, Baby Dodds on drums, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lil Hardin on piano, Honoré Dutrey on trombone, and Bill Johnson on double bass and banjo. Recordings made by this group in 1923 demonstrated the New Orleans style of collective improvisation and brought it to a larger audience. 

As mentor to Louis Armstrong in New Orleans, Oliver taught young Louis and gave him his job in Kid Ory's band when he went to Chicago. A few years later Oliver summoned him to Chicago to play with his band. Louis remembered Oliver as "Papa Joe" and considered him his idol and inspiration. In his autobiography, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans Armstrong wrote: "It was my ambition to play as he did. I still think that if it had not been for Joe Oliver, jazz would not be what it is today."

Chicken You Can Roost Behind The Moon

1. Tears (L.Armstrong, L. Hardin) *King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band 1923

2. Chicken You Can Roost Behind The Moon (F. Stokes) *Frank Stokes 1927

3. Just A Dream (On My Mind) (Broonzey) *Big Bill Broonzey 1938

4. Tight Like This (L.Curl) *Louis Armstrong’s Hot 5 1927

5. All That I Ask Of You Is Love (E.Seldon) *Lionel Ferbos 1998

6. Snake Rag (J.Oliver) *King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band 1923 

7. Singin’ The Blues (J.R.Robinson, C.Conrad, S.Lewis, J.Young) *Frankie Trumbauer & his Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke 1927

8. Ting A Ling (A.Britt, J.Little) *Tuba Fats & Rue Conti Jazz Band 1995

9. Step It Up And Go (B.Fuller) *Blind Boy Fuller 1940 

10. I Can't Say (L. Armstrong) *Johnnie Dodds & the New Orleans Bootblacks 1926

11. So Tired (A.Sizemore, G.Little) *Dallas String Band 1929 

12. I Had Someone Else Before I Had You (H.Harris) *Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys 1946

13. Nevertheless (H. Ruby, B. Kalmar) *Danny Barker 1988

14. Wabash Blues (D.Ringle, F.Meinken)

15. Hotter Than That (L. Hardin)  *Louis Armstrong’s Hot 5 1928

16. The Song Has Ended (But Melody Lingers On) (I.Berlin) *Whispering Jack Smith 1927

17. Jelly Roll Baker (L. Johnson) *Lonnie Johnson 1942

18. When You and I Were Young Maggie (G.W. Johnson, J.A. Butterfield) 

Played with respect and admiration for the artists who wrote, performed and lived these songs.

*Our favorite recording

Jazz is a timeless musical genre. On the new album by the Secret Six they dig deep to find vintage, obscure music that they can shape and mold into fresh new arrangements. Using tradition as a guide, they have assembled a collection of jazz songs that will tickle your feet with that swingin’ beat. So get in the mood to groove, pull up your socks and put on your dancing shoes. If you like spicy barn burners, blueses and ballads you will enjoy listening to the sweet, seductive sounds of the new Secret Six album 
Chicken You Can Roost Behind The Moon

There’s Something In My Eye And It’s You!

1. Cornet Chop Suey- (L.Armstrong) *Louis Armstrong ’s Hot Five 1926

2. Rose Of Rio Grande - (H. Warren) * Marion Harris 1922

3. Creole Love Call - (J. Oliver) *Duke Ellington Orchestra 1928

4. Dippermouth Blues - (J. Oliver. L. Armstrong) *King Olivers Creole Orchestra 1923

5. Wild Man Blues - (Morton)  *Johnny Dodds’ New Orleans Bootblacks 1927

6. Stranger On The Shore - (Bilk) *Acker Bilk 1961

7. Magic Is The Moonlight - (C. Pasquale, M. Grever) *Sammy Rimmington 1941

8. East Coast Trot - (J. Blythe) *Johnny Dodds with Junie Cobb’s Hometown Band 1926

9. See See Rider Blues - (G. Rainey) * Ma Rainey & Louis Armstrong 1924

10. Froggie Moore Rag - * Jelly Roll Morton 1923

11. Smackin’ The Sax - (Tilford) *Hooks Tilford with Phillips’ Louisville Jug Band 1930

12. You Can Depend On Me - (C. Carpenter) *Narvin Kimball 1960

13. . Weatherbird Rag - (L.Armstrong) *King Oliver’s Creole Orchestra 1923

14. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor - (Handy) *Jelly Roll Morton 1938

15. Ride Red Ride - (I. Mills, L. Millinder) *Lucky Millinder Orchestra

    * Our favorite recording

    Played with respect and admiration for the artists who wrote, performed and lived these songs
    
    

The sophomore effort by the Secret Six There’s Something In My Eye And It’s You! revives the best aspects of unspoiled New Orleans music with collective improvisation. A distinctive texture of early jazz from New Orleans which Louis Armstrong said derived from the old sanctified churches. A heterophony of call and response phrases that create a musical world that does not depend on conventional harmony. The collective improvisation balances total order and total chaos with uncompromising intensity. 

Ed Polcer Relaxin’ With The Secret Six

Nominated by Offbeat Magazine’s “Best Of The Beat” Awards:

Best Traditional Jazz Album Of 2022

Ed Polcer is an expert showman and a veteran jazzman. He has played his cornet for princes and presidents, movie stars and recording stars. Most recently you’ll find Ed Polcer Relaxin’ with the Secret Six playing his magic horn down in good old New Orleans. 

Ed started performing on the east coast at the age of six as a xylophonist with his sister as the Vaudeville duo “Eddie and Bettie.” Playing cornet he joined the Tigertown Five, they made several Carnegie Hall appearances and performed at the wedding of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly in Monaco. Ed joined the Benny Goodman Sextet in 1973. President Clinton invited him to play for the 1994 Congressional Ball in the White House. In 2001 Ed appeared in a command performance in Bangkok for the King of Thailand. He was a featured performer at Eddie Condon's club in New York City for ten years where he surrounded himself with all the greats of the jazz era on a nightly basis. Ed has appeared in hundreds of concerts, festivals and jazz parties throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, including numerous return appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival. He has also been found busking in the streets of New York and New Orleans with a younger generation of jazz musicians who relish his phrasing and tone and who cannot get enough of the golden sounds that flow through his horn.  We had a great time recording the new album and we hope you enjoy listening to "Ed Polcer Relaxin' With The Secret Six"

Secret Six First CD