DESCRIPTION:
King Oliver's Jazz Band - The Okeh Sessions
June 22-23, 1923
Okeh Recording Studio, Chicago, IL

* For those releases the band changed their name from King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band to King Oliver's Jazz Band.
* The songs were taken from The Chronological Classics: King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band 1923.
* The songs were mixed following their catalog numbers' order.

TRACK LISTING
00:00 Sobbin' Blues [Master 8394-B] [Art Kassel / Vic Berton] [Okeh 4906-A]
03:07 Sweet Lovin' Man [Master 8392-B] [Lil Hardin / Walter Melrose] [Okeh 4906-B]
05:49 Dipper Mouth Blues [Master 8402-A] [King Oliver / Louis Armstrong] [Okeh 4918-A]
08:02 Where Did You Stay Last Night? [Master 8401-A] [Lil Hardin / Louis Armstrong] [Okeh 4918-B]
10:31 High Society Rag [Master 8393-B] [King Oliver's Jazz Band] [Okeh 4933-A]
13:26 Snake Rag [Master 8391-A] [A.J. Piron / King Oliver] [Okeh 4933-B]
16:41 Jazzin' Babies' Blues [Master 8403-A] [Richard M. Jones] [Okeh 4975-B]

* Sobbin' Blues, Sweet Lovin' Man, High Society Rag and Snake Rag were recorded on June 22, whereas Dipper Mouth Blues, Where Did You Stay Last Night? and Jazzin' Babies' Blues, on June 23.
* Sobbin' Blues is credited to "Kassell / Burton", but it was actually composed by Art Kassel and Vic Berton, which suggests a misspelling on both names.
* Jazzin' Babies' Blues was released b/w New Orleans Hop Scop Blues [George W. Thomas], by Clarence Williams' Blue Five.

FORMAT
Single / 78 rpm [10-inch] / Mono

PERSONNEL
Arthur "Bud" Scott, Jr. - Banjo
Honoré Dutrey - Trombone
John M. "Johnny" Dodds - Clarinet
Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver - Cornet
Lillian Beatrice "Lil" Hardin - Arrangements, Piano
Louis Daniel Armstrong - Cornet
Warren "Baby" Dodds - Percussion [Woodblocks]

* Louis Daniel Armstrong or Warren "Baby" Dodds - Slide Whisle [Sobbin' Blues].

BIOGRAPHY
A key figure in the first period of jazz history, Oliver's career was a mix of triumph and miscalculation. He was bandleading in New Orleans in the early years of the century, but it wasn't until the 1910s that he really rose above the other local groups. He went to Chicago in 1919 and created what became the Creole Jazz Band around 1921, which Louis Armstrong joined in 1922. They were a sensation, and made the first important group of records by black jazzmen. His later band, the Dixie Syncopators, was less successful, and turning down an offer from New York's Cotton Club may have been a crucial mistake (it went to Duke Ellington). Though he was still touring and recording, he was out of fashion by the early '30s and was often barely able to play, owing to poor teeth. He died in Savannah, Georgia, reduced to working as a pool-hall janitor (COOK, Richard; MORTON, Brian. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 8th edition. London: Penguin Books, 2006, p. 997).

REVIEWS
10:31 High Society Rag [90/100, by Thomas Cunniffe]
http://www.jazz.com/music/2009/9/15/king-oliver-high-society
13:26 Snake Rag [91/100, by Peter Gerler]
http://www.jazz.com/music/2009/3/25/king-oliver-s-creole-jazz-band-snake-rag
16:41 Jazzin' Babies' Blues [98/100, by Peter Gerler]
http://www.jazz.com/music/2009/3/25/king-oliver-s-creole-jazz-band-jazzin-babies-blues

PICTURES
1st (left to right): Baby Dodds, Honoré Dutrey, King Oliver, Bill Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds and Lil Hardin
2nd: King Oliver
3rd (left to right): Louis Armstrong and King Oliver