WETF Reuben "River" Reeves: Recent Episodes
John L. Clark, Jr.
Reuben "River" Reeves . . groomed to be a competitor to Louis Armstrong, Reeves never achieved the notoriety or public notice. Nevertheless, his recordings in the 1920's with his River Boys (including Omer Simeon, William Barbee and others) were excellent jazz features, while his solos with the Cab Calloway and Fess Williams bands show him to have been an underrated trumpet player of the time.
Live sessions featuring an otherwise unrecorded version of Turk Murphy's band in May, 1968 at the Concord Armory and the Muskataquid Club with Ed Johnson, Turk, Jack Crook, Pete Clute, Bob Carroll, Smokey Stover and Pat Yankee
Reuben "River" Reeves . . groomed to be a competitor to Louis Armstrong, Reeves never achieved the notoriety or public notice. Nevertheless, his recordings in the 1920's with his River Boys (including Omer Simeon, William Barbee and others) were excellent jazz features, while his solos with the Cab Calloway and Fess Williams bands show him to have been an underrated trumpet player of the time.
Jimmy Rushing in the 1950's. . .these recordings were taken from several albums Mr Five by Five recorded for Columbia in the late 1950's - many have a big band led by Buck Clayton with arrangements by Clayton, Nat Pierce and Jimmy Mundy. Great solos by Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Tate, Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Benny Morton, Dickie Wells, Hilton Jefferson, Claude Hopkins , Ben Webster, Helen Humes, Buster Bailey and Urbie Green.
Milton Brown and His Brownies! Western Swing in the 1930's - great jazz by a string group and a superb vocalist! Great solos by Bob Dunn, Papa Calhoun and many others . . this was definitely more of a jazz band than a country string group.