Monette Moore Vol. 1 (1923-1924)

Among those who study and appreciate early jazz, Monette Moore is usually associated with bandleader Charlie Johnson, who featured her on-stage at Connie's Inn and Small's Paradise in Harlem and used her voice on several of his recordings during the mid-'20s. Most of her early works have been reissued on two CDs by Document. Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 is chock-full of her first 24 recordings which were made in New York and Chicago between January 1923 and November 1924 and released on Paramount and Vocalion or released under the name of Susie Smith by the Ajax record company, based in Quebec with a stateside office in Chicago. Moore, whose career as a jazz singer led to years of work in theater, cinema, and television, is heard on this collection with cornetists Tommy Ladnier and Rex Stewart, clarinetists Jimmy O'Bryant, and Rudy Powell, as well as violinist Wyatt Houston. Her piano accompanists included Clarence Jones, Naomi Carew, James Cassino (probably a pseudonym for Cassino Simpson), Jimmy Blythe, and Louis Hooper. On the last four titles she is backed by the Choo Choo Jazzers, a trio consisting of cornetist Bubber Miley, trombonist Jake Frazier, pianist Louis Hooper, and sound effects man Joe Frazier. She also plays her own kazoo on the "Graveyard Bound Blues." Note that the "Bullet Wound Blues," credited to Fats Waller and Spencer Williams, was one of a large number of unpublished songs that Waller sold for quick cash during the year 1924. Its nearest relative, the "Bloody Razor Blues," was recorded during the same time period by another singer from the Ajax talent roster, Helen Gross.