Diz Mullins

Sam Trippe and His Jazz Orchestra: Explosion!

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 2001

This reissue on Americatone by Sam Trippe's orchestra was recorded more than forty years ago, shortly before Trippe and his wife, Dorothy, were killed in an auto accident, which accounts for its LP—like 30:40 playing time. Trippe's ensemble was modeled closely on that of Woody Herman—not a bad model at all—and Trippe was convinced he had one of the world's greatest big bands. While that's hard to affirm—as Art Blakey once said, it's impossible to measure talent—he had a very ...