Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five [Best of] [Box set]

Amazingly, there isn't. These five discs are superbly produced, placing Louis Jordan's career in chronological order from 1938 to 1950, and the sound quality is top-notch. Almost all his classics are here, "Caldonia," "Saturday Night Fish Fry," "Knock Me a Kiss," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," plus many surprises you might never have heard before. The only major songs missing are the good numbers he turned out after 1950, when his popularity faded, like "I Want You to Be My Baby." But otherwise: this is the whole deal and then some, for a pretty incredible price.

Louis Jordan is the link between big band swing of the thirties and the rock 'n' roll of the fifties. Starting out as a saxophonist in Chick Webb's 1930s big band, Louis struck out on his own in 1938 with his small group The Tympany Five (not always five people, but the name stuck anyway). They played hard-driving blues swing numbers with creative, crazy lyrics, and scored hit after hit on both the R&B and pop charts for ten years. While jazz drifted toward be-bop, which wasn't danceable, Louis Jordan offered the dancing hepcats and new kind of music to sweat and swing to. His band was a swing dancer's dream, and still is. No musician had a bigger effect on the modern swing movement than Louis Jordan, and his numbers are endlessly covered by other bands. But there's nothing like the real deal: Jordan swung hard on sax, had a wicked sense of humor, was a born entertainer, and lead a band that seemed to be having more fun than anyone.

Each disc comes with its own liner notes booklet, with information on the history and development of the band (plus tidbits about Jordan's busy personal life). Here's what the discs cover:

Disc A: 1938-1940. The weakest disc, since the band is still figuring out their style, and the recording technology is poorer so the sound is muddier. Jordan hasn't yet discovered his signature songs, but there are some excellent pieces here, like "At the Swing Cat's Ball," "June Tenth Jamboree," the slow and sultry "Pompton Turnpike," and "Oh Boy, I'm in the Groove" (a title that fits Jordan perfectly).

Disc B: 1941-1944. After completely changing the original band, Jordan started to become a sensation and scored huge hit records. Boogie woogie takes over the sound, and the bands start swinging hard. The classics here are the sexy "Knock Me a Kiss," the fast and furiously funny "Five Guys Named Moe," and the wonderful slow dance "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby." With the advent of WWII, Jordan recorded timely and funny war tunes: "Ration Blues," "You Can't Get that No More," and "G.I. Jive." Of the lesser-known pieces, the best is the infectious swing-stomper, "Saxawoogie." It's a boogie, it's a woogie, it's a banger!

Disc C: 1944-46. "Reconversion Blues" bids goodbye to war, but Jordan keeps pulling out even bigger hits. "Caldonia Boogie" is one of his signature numbers, along with "Salt Pork West Virginia," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" (probably his most loved song today), "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," and my personal favorite, "Reet, Petite and Gone." Tunes you might not know, but which you'll love: "How Long Must I Wait for You?" (Train number one is gone...train number two is gone...) and "Jack You're Dead." Jordan also sings duets with Bing Crosby ("My Baby Said Yes," "Your Socks Don't Match") and Ella Fitzgerald ("Stone Cold Dead in the Market," a Latin piece, and "It's So Easy").

Disc D: 1947-1949. Actually, there's no music from 1948 because of a recording ban. Jordan's humor really blooms on this, the funniest of the CDs. The big hits here: "Barnyard Boogie," "Coleslaw," and "Beans and Cornbread." Most of the great numbers here are surprises, like "Chicky-Mo, Craney Crow," the teasing "Daddy-O," and the all-talk comedy piece "Friendship." Jordan also dips into West Indian music with "Early in the Morning" and "Run Joe."

Disc E: 1949-1950. The best disc; Jordan's last big hits before his popularity vanished were amongst his best and most creative (he uses the organ a lot on these numbers): the boppin' instrumental "Onion," the lengthy "Saturday Night Fish Fry," the slow-simmering "Blue Light Boogie," and the silly "Chartreuse." He sings with Ella again on the awesome "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "I'll Never Be Free." He teams up with the other Louis, Louis Armstrong, for "Life is So Peculiar" and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You." These two jokers were made for each other.

Don't turn down this amazing deal. The amount of great music you get for the price here is astonishing. All swing, R&B, and early rock fans should grab this now.

Amazingly, there isn't. These five discs are superbly produced, placing Louis Jordan's career in chronological order from 1938 to 1950, and the sound quality is top-notch. Almost all his classics are here, "Caldonia," "Saturday Night Fish Fry," "Knock Me a Kiss," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," plus many surprises you might never have heard before. The only major songs missing are the good numbers he turned out after 1950, when his popularity faded, like "I Want You to Be My Baby." But otherwise: this is the whole deal and then some, for a pretty incredible price.

Louis Jordan is the link between big band swing of the thirties and the rock 'n' roll of the fifties. Starting out as a saxophonist in Chick Webb's 1930s big band, Louis struck out on his own in 1938 with his small group The Tympany Five (not always five people, but the name stuck anyway). They played hard-driving blues swing numbers with creative, crazy lyrics, and scored hit after hit on both the R&B and pop charts for ten years. While jazz drifted toward be-bop, which wasn't danceable, Louis Jordan offered the dancing hepcats and new kind of music to sweat and swing to. His band was a swing dancer's dream, and still is. No musician had a bigger effect on the modern swing movement than Louis Jordan, and his numbers are endlessly covered by other bands. But there's nothing like the real deal: Jordan swung hard on sax, had a wicked sense of humor, was a born entertainer, and lead a band that seemed to be having more fun than anyone.

Each disc comes with its own liner notes booklet, with information on the history and development of the band (plus tidbits about Jordan's busy personal life). Here's what the discs cover:

Disc A: 1938-1940. The weakest disc, since the band is still figuring out their style, and the recording technology is poorer so the sound is muddier. Jordan hasn't yet discovered his signature songs, but there are some excellent pieces here, like "At the Swing Cat's Ball," "June Tenth Jamboree," the slow and sultry "Pompton Turnpike," and "Oh Boy, I'm in the Groove" (a title that fits Jordan perfectly).

Disc B: 1941-1944. After completely changing the original band, Jordan started to become a sensation and scored huge hit records. Boogie woogie takes over the sound, and the bands start swinging hard. The classics here are the sexy "Knock Me a Kiss," the fast and furiously funny "Five Guys Named Moe," and the wonderful slow dance "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby." With the advent of WWII, Jordan recorded timely and funny war tunes: "Ration Blues," "You Can't Get that No More," and "G.I. Jive." Of the lesser-known pieces, the best is the infectious swing-stomper, "Saxawoogie." It's a boogie, it's a woogie, it's a banger!

Disc C: 1944-46. "Reconversion Blues" bids goodbye to war, but Jordan keeps pulling out even bigger hits. "Caldonia Boogie" is one of his signature numbers, along with "Salt Pork West Virginia," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" (probably his most loved song today), "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," and my personal favorite, "Reet, Petite and Gone." Tunes you might not know, but which you'll love: "How Long Must I Wait for You?" (Train number one is gone...train number two is gone...) and "Jack You're Dead." Jordan also sings duets with Bing Crosby ("My Baby Said Yes," "Your Socks Don't Match") and Ella Fitzgerald ("Stone Cold Dead in the Market," a Latin piece, and "It's So Easy").

Disc D: 1947-1949. Actually, there's no music from 1948 because of a recording ban. Jordan's humor really blooms on this, the funniest of the CDs. The big hits here: "Barnyard Boogie," "Coleslaw," and "Beans and Cornbread." Most of the great numbers here are surprises, like "Chicky-Mo, Craney Crow," the teasing "Daddy-O," and the all-talk comedy piece "Friendship." Jordan also dips into West Indian music with "Early in the Morning" and "Run Joe."

Disc E: 1949-1950. The best disc; Jordan's last big hits before his popularity vanished were amongst his best and most creative (he uses the organ a lot on these numbers): the boppin' instrumental "Onion," the lengthy "Saturday Night Fish Fry," the slow-simmering "Blue Light Boogie," and the silly "Chartreuse." He sings with Ella again on the awesome "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "I'll Never Be Free." He teams up with the other Louis, Louis Armstrong, for "Life is So Peculiar" and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You." These two jokers were made for each other.

Don't turn down this amazing deal. The amount of great music you get for the price here is astonishing. All swing, R&B, and early rock fans should grab this now.