Volume 1by Anonymous

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May 23, 2004: Right off the top, Jazz Oracle deserves major credit for the fine job in remastering these recordings. Their album series "The Complete Recordings" is the completist's dream and the definitive basis for enjoying the work of these artists to the maximum extent. For this specific album, I have to limit my recommendation to completist collectors and to those who are already avid fans of the Dorseys. For me personally, there are no tracks on this disc which really grab me. Of course, this is partly a matter of taste, but having listened to jazz for some 50 years, I found that these Dorsey sides come nowhere near comparing favourably with the 1928 records of Duke Ellington or the Ben Pollack group, for example. While these sides were made in the pre-swing era, it doesn't mean the music shouldn't swing. Often a nice foot-tapping rhythm develops, then the beat is broken for some over-embelished segue or bridge. The solos are often too short to go anywhere, no nice full-chorus soloing by a Benny Goodman or a Bubber Miley. In summary, I'm not saying the more casual listener shouldn't buy this album, rather just not to expect too much.