During the 1920s,
Sam Lanin made hundreds of records with his dance bands using an amazing variety of names which were issued on a diverse assortment of record labels. Released by Frog in 2006,
Shake It and Break It focuses upon records cut in 1921 and 1922 by
Lanin's Southern Serenaders with a few sides issued under the names
Bailey's Lucky Seven or
Ladd's Black Aces tossed in to fill out the collection. Remastered by
Ted Kendall, these vintage dance band recordings are a welcome addition to a growing body of early 20th century works which have been rescued from oblivion and are circulating at last in the digital format. These rare recordings were made by an ensemble with varying personnel that included trumpeter
Phil Napoleon and trombonist
Miff Mole with either
Frank Signorelli or
Jimmy Durante at the piano. The playlist is richly veined with songs by
W.C. Handy,
Spencer Williams,
Noble Sissle, and
Eubie Blake, as well as
Durante (whose "I've Got My Habits On" was made into a player piano roll by
James P. Johnson); Edison's house xylophonist "Friscoe" Lou Chiha, whose "Shake It and Break It" was famously reinterpreted by
Sidney Bechet's New Orleans Feetwarmers in 1940, and
Irving Berlin's Tin Pan Alley colleague
Harry Akst, whose "I've Got the Joys" was a harmless attempt to propose an alternative to the emotional state known as the blues. More substantial examples of "Joys" from the early jazz repertoire would be
Jelly Roll Morton's "New Orleans Joys" and the well-known "Milenberg Joys," which
Morton composed in collaboration with members of the
New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Several excellent
Sam Lanin collections have materialized since the beginning of the 21st century. This one boldly taps into his very earliest strata, proving that even as early as 1921,
Lanin was leading hot bands in the production of exciting, thoroughly entertaining records which sound better than ever today.