Personnel includes: Jack McVea (alto & tenor saxophones); Rabon Tarrant (vocals, drums); Wynonie Harris, Duke Henderson, Cee Pee Johnson (vocals); Lucky Thompson, Wild Bill Moore (tenor saxophone); Bob Mosley (piano).
Compilation producers: Robert G. Koester, Steve Wagner.
Recorded in Los Angeles, California in 1945. Includes liner notes by Frank Driggs.
This is part of Delmark's Apollo series.
Personnel: Jack McVea (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Rabon Tarrant (vocals, drums); Duke Henderson, Cee Pee Johnson, Wynonie Harris (vocals); Gene Phillips (guitar); Gene Porter (clarinet); Jewell L. Grant, Edward Hale, Marshall Royal (alto saxophone); William B. Woodman, Jr., Lucky Thompson, Wild Bill Moore (tenor saxophone); Karl George, Teddy Buckner (trumpet); George "Happy" Johnson (trombone); Earl Brooks, Jimmy Shackleton, Bob Mosley , Wilbert Barranco (piano); R.J. Ross, Lee Young (drums).
Liner Note Authors: Frank Driggs; Bob Koester.
Recording information: 08/??/1945/12/04/1945.
Photographer: Tom Kelly .
Jack McVea sports a jacket, tie, and spectacles on the cover of McVoutie's Central Avenue Blues, looking more like a professor than a saxophonist. While he is most certainly the latter, his debonair appearance does mirror the smooth, elegant style of his horn. McVoutie's Central Avenue Blues captures the tenor/alto player in 1945 in a number of settings that mostly emphasize his R&B work. The other central figure of this disc is drummer/vocalist Rabon Tarrant, who joins McVea on 13 of the 23 tracks. Tarrant's powerful vocals on pieces like "Listen Baby Blues" and "Blues All Night" provide an agreeable contrast to McVea's silky saxophone. There's a bouncy take on "The 'G' Man Got the 'T' Man" with singer Cee Pee Johnson and a bizarre, risqu‚ piece titled "Wiggle Wiggle Woogie" with singer Duke Henderson. Although the singers and personnel vary quite a bit, the material gels together into a pretty uniform set. There are also three instrumentals -- one kicking off the album, the other two ending it -- that allow McVea a little more room to strut his stuff. In another year, the saxophonist would strike gold with "Open the Door, Richard" and forever be associated with R&B as opposed to jazz. McVoutie's Central Avenue Blues offers a fine assortment of the saxophonist's early R&B work. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.
