Gettin' Together/ If You See Me Comin'/ Royal Garden Blues/ Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of This Jelly Roll

The Mezzrow-Ladnier Quintet recordings, captured in 1938, represent a seminal moment in the revivalist movement of New Orleans-style jazz. Mezz Mezzrow, a clarinetist and self-appointed cultural mediator of the jazz scene, organized these sessions to showcase the foundational sounds of traditional collective improvisation. By partnering with trumpeter Tommy Ladnier, a veteran of the classic jazz era, Mezzrow sought to capture the authentic, unvarnished spirit of the 1920s that was rapidly being eclipsed by the polished arrangements of the burgeoning Swing Era.

This specific pressing, released on the La Voix De Son Maître label as part of their international distribution, brought these American recordings to a European audience that held the roots of jazz in high regard. The label, the French branch of His Master's Voice, was instrumental in preserving and circulating these historical sessions. While the records were initially received by a niche audience of jazz purists and critics, they have since been acknowledged as essential documents of pre-war jazz, praised for the fluid interplay between Mezzrow's reedy clarinet and Ladnier's powerful, blues-inflected trumpet work.