SwingDJs

I've been digging on this song lately while coming across some great versions. Since there are hundreds upon hundreds of versions of this song, I'd love some help wading through the crap to the gems.

For starters, I'm loving the Bunny Berigan version off "The Radio Years 1937-1940".

Nobody gonna chime in here? I thought for sure someone at the very least would mention Snakehips Johnson or the various Erskine Hawkins versions on reflex.

Well, around here, we only play it for the Shim Sham, and I think it's always the overplayed Erskine Hawkins one. If you were to play some other version, people would probably still think it was time to do the Shim Sham. That's probably why it doesn't get played more here, and why I don't know many versions of it. I imagine other people are in the same boat.

I like the long, extended Glenn Miller version that he would do on broadcasts. Same tempo as his recording, just longer with more stuff in it.

The Jan Savitt recording on Decca is very good! Faster tempo, different conception. Highly overlooked band. Loggins likes/liked it, too,

My favorite is of course Eskine Hawkin's studio version. Manu has a killer live version that he ripped from LP. Gotta track that one down some day.

Another version I play from time to time that has a similar drive but later swinging feel is from:

Duke Ellington - Recollections from the Big Band Era

And for a late-night bluesy feel:

King Curtis - Old Gold
Yoko Noge - Struttin' With Yoko

Jesse

JesseMiner wrote:My favorite is of course Eskine Hawkin's studio version. Manu has a killer live version that he ripped from LP. Gotta track that one down some day.

Jesse

There's a cd of live recordings of swing era standards that include a version of tuxedo junction by erskine hawkins. It's a little faster and a bit longer too. I wonder if it is the same as the version he ripped.

Another slower version is available on one of the Big 18 cds.

I like the Glen Gray version from 1939-40.

CafeSavoy wrote:There's a cd of live recordings of swing era standards that include a version of tuxedo junction by erskine hawkins. It's a little faster and a bit longer too. I wonder if it is the same as the version he ripped.

Any chance you're talking about this one?

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... aqoalaiijp

The oringal Erskine Hawkins version was surprisingly good last time I heard it, which was at HiLX 2005. I hadn't heard it in years and was really surprised by how good it was - the trumpet solo especially. Of course, nobody really plays it for shim-sham around here.

CafeSavoy wrote:There's a cd of live recordings of swing era standards that include a version of tuxedo junction by erskine hawkins. It's a little faster and a bit longer too. I wonder if it is the same as the version he ripped.

The only live Erskine Hawkins recording I have of "Tuxedo Junction" is from the Holiday For Swing album. It's a killer but about 6 minutes long, so I never get around to playing it. It's not the version Manu spins though. I'm pretty sure his is from a later recording. Does the live recording you're talking about sound similiar?

CafeSavoy wrote:Another slower version is available on one of the Big 18 cds.

That is a sweet version, but I don't find enough opportunities to play it since it's about 110 bpm.

Jesse

The live version of Erksine Hawkins' Tuxedo Junction gets my vote for the best. It sounds to as if it's a radio broadcast, because there is a bit of an announcers overlay.

It's on an album called "Holiday for Swing", which contains a live version of that tune as well. Same one the other Jesse mentioned. It is indeed long, but I think it's the best one.

To be honest I don't know if it was a live record, but I thought it was the "original" version, and it was played for the shim-sham.

Ryan wrote:

CafeSavoy wrote:There's a cd of live recordings of swing era standards that include a version of tuxedo junction by erskine hawkins. It's a little faster and a bit longer too. I wonder if it is the same as the version he ripped.

Any chance you're talking about this one?

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... aqoalaiijp

This one:


Great Jazz Bands Play 22 Original Hits

Not sure if the version is the same as the other. It has a pretty interesting "Oh Lady Be Good" by Basie with supposedly Artie Shaw on Clarinet.

a lesser known version, but one I love, is by the Andrew Sisters. About 125 bpm. They sound very sexy on it.

So I found the version after realizing that I was the one who played it - it was a request and I just went through my ipod and found the one. Anyway its on the "Complete Erskine Hawkins" and is 3:14. The Trpt solo and the trpt plunger figures behind the clar solo have some real grit and bite. The clarinet solo also some pretty fast licks in it. I remember Reub refering to EH as the "whitest balck musician", so I wasn't expecting it to be as good. Also the rhythm behind the trpt solo has a nice 4-feel.

Also, my ipod just shuffled to "Jitterbug Jamboree" another good EH surprise.