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Barrett Deems

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17
Extended Analysis

The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66

Read "The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66" reviewed by Skip Heller


Louis Armstrong officially returned to small band leadership May 17, 1947 via a triumphant concert at Town Hall that was less comeback than reaffirmation. It was even the dawn of his second great period, full of recordings that stood tall with his epochal 1920's output, and the subsequently-assembled Louis Armstrong and his All Stars would immediately establish themselves as a staple of the live jazz circuit as well as a powerhouse recording unit. That era--to the purposes of ...

192
Album Review

Barrett Deems: Deemus

Read "Deemus" reviewed by Nic Jones


Drummer Barrett Deems was a man with a pedigree, who took in stints with violinist Joe Venuti from 1937 to 1944, and a four-year run with trumpeter Louis Armstrong in the 1950s. The first years of the following decade found him keeping the musical company of trombonist Jack Teagarden. All of these affiliations are clues to the musical fare on Deemus, the drummer's first album under his own name--recorded in 1978 but not released by Delmark until 1997. It's great ...

123
Album Review

Barrett Deems: Groovin' Hard

Read "Groovin' Hard" reviewed by Derek Taylor


Confessional time: prior to this listening to this disc my knowledge of Deems was cursory in the extreme. Vague recollections of the man’s name conspired with the less than flattering photo that adorns the cover of this release and resulted in a luke warm anticipation of the music. Looks can definitely be deceiving however and one tour of this disc’s generous contents revealed the hard swinging jargon that has been Deems vernacular for nearly three-quarters of a century. Sadly this ...

162
Album Review

Barrett Deems Big Band: Groovin' Hard

Read "Groovin' Hard" reviewed by Jack Bowers


When all is said and done, Barrett Deems departed the same way he came in — Groovin’ Hard. The 84–year–old dynamo, who succumbed last September to pneumonia, made one last trip to the recording studio in January ’98 to prove that neither he nor his robust big band was combating the infirmities usually associated with advancing age. Prove it they do, as the band smokes effortlessly throughout while Deems, once labeled “the world’s fastest drummer,” shows he’d scarcely decelerated a ...

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182

Recording

Barrett Deems - Deemus (Delmark)

Barrett Deems - Deemus (Delmark)

Source: Master of a Small House

Fame is an ephemeral condition, especially for sidemen in jazz. Drummer Barrett Deems spent a decade stretch with Louis Armstrong. He also served as the engine room for bands under the leadership of Joe Venuti, Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman. Today, he's barely a footnote outside his Chicago stomping grounds yet Delmark honcho Bob Koester doesn't hesitate in likening his raw talent to the legendary surnames Dodds, Rich, Clarke and Roach. There's not much immediate evidence supporting that stature on ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Complete Louis...

Mosaic Records
2021

buy

Deemus

Delmark Records
2010

buy

Groovin' Hard

Delmark Records
2000

buy

The Wonderful World...

Riverside Records
0

buy

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