Eddie Condon was the ringleader for a traditional jazz movement that had roots in Chicago but manifested itself in New York City during the 1930s and '40s. Lean, tough, brusque and stoically alcoholic with a humorous, rhetorical manner not unlike that employed on the silver screen by
James Cagney,
Condon personified old-styled jazz and stubbornly promoted it through live concerts, club dates and studio recording sessions, mostly for
Milt Gabler's Commodore label. In 1999 Masters of Jazz threw together a
Condon sampler containing 20 New Orleans/Windy City styled jazz records waxed during a time line extending from 1930 to 1944. Most of
Condon's core players are heard on this plucky collection, including
Pee Wee Russell,
Bud Freeman,
Bobby Hackett,
Miff Mole,
Max Kaminsky,
George Brunies,
Joe Sullivan and
George Wettling.
Fats Waller even sits in on "Oh, Sister! Ain't That Hot!" and the mighty "Georgia Grind." This piquant taste of
Condon can and will provoke some listeners into investigating the rest of his recorded legacy.