As a founding member of the all-Black Clef Club, Washington DC-born-and-raised Ford T. Dabney helped revolutionize 1910s society dance music with his chief collaborator, James Reese Europe. In 1916, his syncopated orchestra began a multi-year residency with Flo Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic, an after-hours show staged in New York’s New Amsterdam Theatre rooftop garden. Subsequently, Dabney’s Band made several dozen records for the Aeolian-Vocalion Company, pioneers in vertically-cut longer-playing records. When Prohibition forced the Frolic to close, Dabney moved on musically as well as professionally, making a few standout jazz records for the famed Paramount label. Highlights of the 48 tracks on these two CDs include “That’s It,” “The Dancing Deacon,” “Bugle Call Blues,” “Lassus Trombone,” “Slidin’ Sid,” “Rainy Day Blues,” and “Camp Meeting Blues.” Notes in the 36-page booklet by Tim Brooks, author of Lost Sounds. List price: $28.99 Sale price: $25.99
OVERVIEW
- Catalogue number: ARCH 6013
- UPC: 198168060391
- Original release date: May 17, 2024
- Running length: 2 CDs / 48 tracks / 158 minutes
- Notes & packaging: Double slimline with a 36-page full-color booklet
- Tracks recorded: 1917-1922
- In Archeophone’s Jazz, Dance & Blues series
- Awards: 67th GRAMMY Nominee, Best Album Notes
| Tracklist: CD 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Darktown Strutters’ Ball | Dabney’s Band | 1917 | |
| 2. | That’s It | Dabney’s Band | 1917 | |
| 3. | The Jass — “Lazy Blues” | Dabney’s Band | 1917 | |
| 4. | Sally Trombone | Dabney’s Band | 1917 | |
| 5. | Pussy Willow | Dabney’s Band | 1917 | |
| 6. | Paddle-Addle in Your Little Canoe | Dabney’s Band | 1917 | |
| 7. | There’s a Lump of Sugar Down in Dixie | Dabney’s Band | 1918 | |
| 8. | Slidin’ Sid | Dabney’s Band | 1918 | |
| 9. | Our Sammies’ March | Dabney’s Military Band | 1918 | |
| 10. | A Winning Fight | Dabney’s Military Band | 1918 | |
| 11. | Mr. Sousa’s Yankee Band | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 12. | You Keep Sending ‘Em Over and We’ll Keep Knocking ‘Em Down | Dabney’s Band & Arthur Fields | 1918 | |
| 13. | You’ll Find Old Dixieland in France | Dabney’s Band & Arthur Fields | 1918 | |
| 14. | Just Blue | Dabney’s Band | 1918 | |
| 15. | Swinging Along | Dabney’s Band | 1918 | |
| 16. | Springtime | Dabney’s Band | 1918 | |
| 17. | Indigo Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 18. | A Foxy Cure for the Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 19. | Rainy Day Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 20. | Lassus Trombone | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 21. | How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 22. | Keep Smiling | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| Tracklist: CD 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Feist’s All-Hit Medley | Dabney’s Band | 1918 | |
| 2. | Miss Trombone (A Slippery Rag) | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 3. | Easy Pickin’s | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 4. | Missouri Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 5. | Frisco’s Kitchen Stove Rag | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 6. | Squealing Pig Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 7. | Old Glory Goes Marching On | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 8. | Beautiful Ohio Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 9. | Slow Drag Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 10. | Breeze (Blow My Baby Back to Me) | Dabney’s Novelty Band | 1919 | |
| 11. | I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None o’ This Jelly Roll | Dabney’s Novelty Band | 1919 | |
| 12. | Spanking the Baby | Dabney’s Band & Arthur Fields | 1919 | |
| 13. | There’s a Lot of Blue Eyed Marys Down in Maryland | Dabney’s Band & Arthur Fields | 1919 | |
| 14. | The Dancing Deacon | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 15. | On the Streets of Cairo | Dabney’s Novelty Orchestra | 1919 | |
| 16. | Blues My Naughtie Sweetie Gives To Me | Dabney’s Novelty Orchestra | 1919 | |
| 17. | Now I Know | Dabney’s Novelty Orchestra | 1919 | |
| 18. | Camp Meeting Blues | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 19. | Round the Corner | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 20. | What’s Worth While Getting | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 21. | My Laddie | Dabney’s Band | 1919 | |
| 22. | Wedding and Shimmie and Jazz | Dabney’s Band | 1920 | |
| 23. | When My Baby Smiles | Dabney’s Band | 1920 | |
| 24. | Bugle Call Blues | Ford Dabney’s Syncopated Orchestra | 1922 | |
| 25. | Doo Dah Blues | Ford Dabney’s Syncopated Orchestra | 1922 | |
| 26. | Sweet Man o’ Mine | Ford Dabney’s Syncopated Orchestra | 1922 | |
GRAMMY Awards
- GRAMMY Nominee, Best Album Notes, 2024