Acrobat has released a series of 2-CD sets featuring live broadcasts from the Club Hangover in San Francisco during the mid-50s, when the city was a hotbed of the revival of Dixieland jazz, and the broadcasts from the Club on radio KCBS brought the atmosphere of the late-night performances to a wide audience. The series to date features legendary performers in the genre, including Kid Ory, Muggsy Spanier, Red Nichols and Teddy Buckner. The great jazz pianist Earl Hines, whose career ranged across swing and modern jazz, could turn his hand to any kind of music with ease, and fell in with life on the west coast to play a leading part in a number of seasons at the Hangover, in this case pulling together a top class line-up of seasoned performers, featuring not only the great cornetist and trumpeter Muggsy Spanier, but also Darnell Howard on clarinet, Jimmy Archey on trombone, Pops Foster on bass, and Earl Watkins on drums.

This great-value 2-CD set features five half-hour broadcasts (minus a couple of duplicated titles for space reasons) from consecutive weekends in April and May in 1957, complete with Earl Hines spoken introductions. The recording and sound quality is excellent, and the shows capture the excitement and inhibition of the live club atmosphere, with the musicians playing with relaxed freedom. Includes substantial booklet notes.

REVIEWS

Never heard live broadcasts released for the first time. The club atmosphere is lively & the crowd obviously love it. The sound from the original tapes is fine, the music constantly rewarding, if Dixieland is your thing, you should hear this.  - Peter Vacher (The Jazz Rag)

Earl's accomplished technique is fully tested at alarming breakneck tempo, vigorously supported with an excellent rhythm section - Hugh Rainey (Jazz Journal)