Pearl
1995
Blowing Up A Breeze
About This Album
Tough and sultry as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, or Herschel Evans, tenor saxophonist Chu Berry (his first name is pronounced "Chew") made significant contributions to jazz before his premature death at the age of 31 in an automobile wreck (a tragic point in common with Evans, who was felled by heart disease at the age of 29). So active was Berry as a sideman that historical reissue compilations must touch upon a dizzying array of classic swing recordings. For example, Indispensable Chu Berry 1936-1939 (released as part of French RCA's Black and White series) often feels like the indispensable Wingy Manone, a noble concept in its own right. Blowing Up a Breeze, a 1995 Pearl/Topaz chronological compilation, does a splendid job of following in Chu's footsteps. The trail begins in 1933 with Spike Hughes & His All American Orchestra and passes through the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Teddy Wilson in 1936 and 1937. The heart of Chu Berry's legacy lies among the Little Jazz Ensemble recordings waxed for the Commodore label in November of 1938. The interaction between Chu and trumpeter Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge makes these his very best moments ever captured on record.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,13,14,15,17,18,19,20 and 21)

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