THE SOUND OF HARLEM

The third of three-LP box sets released by Columbia in the early '60s in their Jazz Odyssey series, as with the New Orleans and Chicago samplers, contains some common selections but quite a few rarities among its 48 performances. In addition to such major names as Mamie Smith (her pioneering 1920 recording of "Crazy Blues"), James P. Johnson, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway and Billie Holiday, there are numbers from Edith Wilson, Thomas Morris, Leroy Tibbs, Mattie Hite, Lena Wilson, Buck and Bubbles and The Hokum Trio. Most of the first two LPs stick to the 1920s and early '30s while the last one goes up to Cootie Williams's 1942 recording of "Epistrophy." Highly recommended although this set will be very difficult to find. ~ Scott Yanow. All Music Guide. This record set also has a 54 page booklet by George Hoefer about Harlem in the 20's with photos of the artists and the neighborhood gathering places. It is great history