It's Tight Like That (1925-1930)

It's Tight Like That (1925-1930)Noted jazz critic Scott Yanow has observed that "when listening to or discussing jazz from the 1920s, it is easy to just stick to the big names like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, Bix Beiderbecke, and Duke Ellington. But in reality a great deal of music was recorded during that era. The average listener of the time was not necessarily aware of the jazz giants, and was mostly concerned with getting music that was

Noted jazz critic Scott Yanow has observed that "when listening to or discussing jazz from the 1920s, it is easy to just stick to the big names like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, Bix Beiderbecke, and Duke Ellington. But in reality a great deal of music was recorded during that era. The average listener of the time was not necessarily aware of the jazz giants, and was mostly concerned with getting music that was hot, melodic, full of pep, and danceable." Lou Gold's name may not be well-known today, but in the 1920s, he was responsible for hundreds of popular "hot dance" records.

Born Louis Milton Goldwasser in Russia in 1890, he emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was three years old. As a child he studied piano and began giving lessons while still a teenager himself. By the mid-1910s, he was performing professionally and by 1924 was leading a band regularly at the Club Wigwam in New York City. Like bandleaders Sam Lanin, Nathan Glantz, Ben Selvin, and Adrian Schubert, the late 1920s found Gold organizing frequent recording sessions for dimestore record labels, ultimately producing over 750 sides. He always hired top New York studio musicians like Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Irving Kaufman, and Scrappy Lambert (all of whom can be heard on this CD). If the arrangements weren't exactly groundbreaking, they were always tasteful, very danceable, and well-executed with plenty of "pep." Gold also dabbled in composition himself (he had moderate hits with "Driftwood" and "That's My Girl"), and this CD features three tuneful Gold originals.

This CD features a delightful sampling 27 of Gold's "hottest" sides, all newly-remastered from excellent copies of the original 78 rpm records for superior sound quality. Included is a lavish 28-page booklet with comprehensive liner notes by Randy Skretvedt, previously unpublished photographs provided by Lou Gold's family, and a label gallery with images of every record.

Rivermont catalogue number: BSW-1147 (Audio CD)

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