V.A. – Esquire Metropolitan Opera House Jam Session (1944) (24/96 Vinyl Rip Mono)

There is a story behind this concert – from the liner notes:
"In the 1940s Esquire magazine was one of the most popular news magazines of the American East Coast. Every year it organized a poll among its readers, who voted for the top musicians of the last year. Then all the winners were invited for a great concert which was a major event of New York's nightlife. This is the recording of the first Esquire Jazz Concert. You find, joined for one night, the most popular American Jazz musicians in a night-long jam session."

By any means one of the most remarkable recordings in Jazz history. But even more astonishing: there were no tickets for sale. Who wanted to attend the show, had to purchase War Bonds – all visitors had to finance the Second World War. This is a typical example for American patriotism. In addition to the fact that you will never find all these musicians playing together again, recordings from this period are quite rare because of the restrictions caused by the war.
There is no precise name for this band, the announcer calls it the Esquire All-American Band, some call it the Esquire Jazz Band, others the Coleman Hawkins All Stars Band.
There have been many releases with parts of the show on the market. This one is a double vinyl edition from a French label. Although it claims to be an "integral recording" there are some songs missing, and some don't have the length noted on the cover. Missing tracks on this edition are "Vibes duet" with Lionel Hampton & Red Norvo, and "Rachel's dream" with Benny Goodman.
Also they had to shuffle the tracks around, I think, to make them fit on the 4 record sides. There were some uggly cuts between the tracks that I tried to repair for greater listening pleasure. On Discogs I found entries for a more complete German 3 LP edition and a Czech 2 CD release. I'd love to here this one, but couldn't find it anywhere.
Considering the technical ressources in the 1940s, this recording sounds really good. On some tracks you hear a moderator explain who is playing the solos, therefore I think, at least some of these recordings have been actually taped in a radio station that did a broadcast of the show. On Louis Armstrong's first song his microphone doesn't work, he uses another one then, and now the orchestra is difficult to hear. It seems the whole show has been transmitted and recorded with 2 microphones, one for the orchestra and one for the soloist.
This is a mono recording, the mono files have half the size of stereo files. The low file sizes and bitrates don't mean the quality is low.

From the New York Times, January 19, 1944:
"The Metropolitan Opera House was the scene of a jazz jam session last night, given by the Esquire All-American Band, 1944, in connection with the Fourth War Loan Drive. A total of $650,000 was raised from the sale of tickets, which went only to 3,600 purchasers of war bonds of denominations from $25 to $100, and subscribers for the boxes. – Whistling in all parts of the sold-out house, including the 'diamond horse shoe,' greeted the band when the curtain went up, and was repeated frequently throughout the evening. This was in line with the 'informality and spontaneity essential to a jam session,' as a program note put it. The members of the band were drawn from the winners in the Esquire magazine's 1944 jazz poll to select the nation's 'firsts' in jazz. Part of the concert was broadcast over the WJZ Blue Network by the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands. – Benny Goodman, first-place clarinet winner, who is making a picture in Hollywood, piped in a number by direct wire. … Leonard Feather of the Esquire staff was master of ceremonies, sitting at one side of the stage before a high table with a microphone. Dr. Robert Goffin, chairman of the board of judges who picked the winners in the contest, presented the awards, consisting of 'Eskies,' little gold images which are the swing edition of the movies' 'Oscar.' Each winner also received $500 in war bonds."

Tracks
01. Esquire Jazz Band · Esquire blues 05:06
02. Esquire Jazz Band · Mop mop 04:52
03. Billie Holiday · Do nothing till you hear from me 03:48
04. Billie Holiday · I love my man 04:15
05. Louis Armstrong · I can't give you anything but love 03:38
06. Louis Armstrong & Jack Teagarden · I gotta right to sing the blues 03:56
07. Art Tatum · Sweet Lorraine 03:33
08. Red Norvo · I got rhythm 09:01
09. Esquire Jazz Band · The blues 03:06
10. Mildred Bailey · Rockin' chair 03:38
11. Louis Armstrong · Basin Street blues 04:54
12. Leonard Feather · Announcement 00:23
13. Billie Holiday · I'll get by 01:41
14. Barney Bigard · Tea for two 03:34
15. Louis Armstrong · Muskrat ramble 02:18
16. Al Casey · Buck jumpin' 03:26
17. Louis Armstrong · Stompin' at the Savoy 03:18
18. Oscar Pettiford · For bass faces only 05:16
19. Louis Armstrong · Back o'town blues 03:34
20. Teddie Wilson · I've got a feeling I'm falling 03:03
21. Mildred Bailey · More than you know 04:00
22. Mildred Bailey · Squeeze me 02:53
23. Barney Bigard · Rose room 05:29
24. Coleman Hawkins · My ideal 03:19
25. Mildred Bailey · Honeysuckle rose 01:50
26. Lionel Hampton · Flyin' home 08:59
Total time: 1:42:43

Musicians
Billie Holiday: Vocals
Mildred Bailey: Vocals
Jack Teagarden: Trombone, Vocals
Louis Armstrong: Trumpet, Vocals
Roy Eldridge: Trumpet
Barney Bigard: Clarinet
Coleman Hawkins: Tenor Saxophone
Al Casey: Guitar
Oscar Pettiford: Bass
Art Tatum: Piano
Teddy Wilson: Piano
Lionel Hampton: Vibraphone
Red Norvo: Xylophone
Sidney Catlett: Drums
Leonard Feather: Moderation