TATUM: New Jubilee Broadcast, Also Red Allen, J.C. Higginbotham, Joe Turner!, Part 1

Jubilee was a series on what became known as the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) that featured popular Black performers, with a heavy focus on jazz artists. It was broadcast to Black American troops stationed overseas from 1942 until 1953. As I’ve explained in other essays, in those days there was no organized effort to preserve broadcasts. Tape recording was not available until the late 1940s. These were on disc only, and discs were mailed out to the broadcasting stations. When discs did not survive, the broadcasts were gone. Luckily, about 150 Jubilee shows are still in circulation, with perhaps another 30 for which only part of the audio survives. There are another 20 or 30 shows for which we only have printed information, no audio at all.

One of the missing shows was the first half of Jubilee 17. But once in a while someone finds an original Jubilee disc in their family’s collection. One such disc was auctioned on Ebay, and our friend Konrad Nowakowski, a jazz researcher in Vienna, obtained it. He is giving us the chance to hear this long-lost treasure. The shows ran about 30 minutes, divided into two long-playing radio transcription discs that ran much longer than commercial 78 rpm recordings—about 15 minutes per side. Each show was divided onto two separate discs so that a host with two turntables could go from one to the other without a break. (If one had to flip the record over for the second half, there would be an awkward and unprofessional pause.) Here are the labels for the two discs of Jubilee 17. “Program Time 28:43” refers to the total time of both parts combined. Whoever typed them was no spelling champion—Higginbotham and Holiday are spelled differently on each label, and wrong in both cases!:

The handwriting on the top means “Aired [broadcast] on September 25, 1943.” Under that, faintly, is the word “Played.” It would have been played on different days in different countries, and it’s not known in which country this was played, but in any case Part 1 of Jubilee 17 has not been heard since 1943! Part two, which includes Billie, is not as rare, but we’ll hear it as well, next time. You’re probably wondering, what was on the other side of the above discs? It was another Jubilee show, in this case number 18, parts one and two. Part one of show 18 is also a new discovery, as we will discuss.

But Jubilee 17 is the most exciting find because of its featured artists. Many of the early programs, such as this one, were recorded in Los Angeles with an audience, but the shows were edited together from various performances. For example, Tatum’s trio recorded several titles in January 1943, and one is used here, another in part two of the broadcast, and others in different Jubilee programs. The same is true for Red Allen, who recorded all his titles on an unknown date between March 1 and 22, 1943, while on an engagement in L.A. The “dubbing date”—that is, the date that Jubilee 17 was put together from these various discs and recorded onto the two final discs —was March 23, 1943. (Sometimes recorded performances were re-used in later Jubilee shows.)

We will hear Part One of Jubilee 17 below, but first let me give you some background info and audio excerpts: It begins with the well-known white AFRS host, Art Gilmore, announcing a show “for the fighting men of the united nations,” meaning the united forces of the Allies. (The U.N. did not exist until 1945.) He introduces the regular Jubilee m.c., Ernie “Bubbles” Whitman, an accomplished fast-talking Black actor and comedian. Whitman brings on a great small group led by trumpeter Henry “Red” Allen. Whitman doesn’t mention the personnel until later, but it’s Don Stovall (alto sax), J.C. Higginbotham (one of my favorite trombonists), pianist General Morgan (that’s his real name—more on him below), Benny Moten (bass—not related, I believe, to bandleader Bennie Moten), and the famous New Orleans drummer Paul Barbarin, who had worked with Red since 1929 in the band of Luis Russell, including behind Louis Armstrong.

Whitman was known for talking almost entirely in “jive talk” slang, and I won’t translate all of it for you—that would drive you crazy. But I will explain this first spot, to give you the idea: He says that they’ve “brought along an old-timer”—an old song—”but they’ve got him dressed in a zoot suit”—meaning “but they’ll play it in the current fashion.” He then exclaims, “Give him a belt in the back, boys, and let it ride!” A contemporary style of suit jacket had a belt in the back, so this, like the zoot suit reference, means “Make it contemporary.” And both Black and white musicians were addressed as “boys” in those days. But Whitman doesn’t tell us the name of the song—it’s “The Sheik of Araby.” Everyone solos well—Stovall and Allen first. J.C. starts with one of his standard phrases but continues on inventively, followed by the piano. At 3:55 there is a special treat, as Stovall returns with another alto sax solo, in a “talking style.” Allen talks back to him, saying, for example, “You did?!” Stovall is accompanied by a drum solo, and by the pianist.

Speaking of the pianist, the only known recordings of General Morgan, Jr. are these sessions from March 1943 with Allen. My research finds that he was born in Savannah, Georgia, September 6, 1913, spent a little time performing in Harlem around 1940, and then went to L.A. with Allen in March 1943. By July 1943 he had settled in Chicago. There he became a local legend, and that’s no surprise, because he sounds excellent. Listen to him behind the soloists from, say, 2:30 to 3:30, and then to his fine piano solo, which follows. Sadly, he drowned while swimming in the Chicago side of Lake Michigan on August 20, 1958, at the age of 44. One of his five children, Gloria (ca.1935-1987), was also a pianist in the Chicago area, and a singer as well. Her nephew, who is General’s grandson, is composer and pianist Miguel de la Cerna. He is active in Chicago today and has also toured internationally as music director for theatrical productions.

Next, Whitman introduces the blues in the “Indigo manner” by singer Big Joe Turner. The song was known as “Roll ‘Em Pete” when Pete Johnson was on piano. but Pete’s not there—Allen’s group plays behind Turner—so Whitman simply says “Roll ‘Em.”

At 7:20, Whitman introduces “the Paderewski of the hep cats piano.” (Classical pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski had died in 1941, but he was still a celebrity whose name everybody would recognize.) Tatum’s trio with Slam Stewart on bass and Tiny Grimes on guitar plays this previously unheard version of “I Know That You Know.” Among the highlights: Tatum Goes “out” briefly at 7:57:

(I sincerely hope that you have checked out the Index for my series on Tatum’s most avant-garde moments—there are many, and they are truly unbelievable!)

He plays super-fast stride piano from 8:15 to 8:38—listen to the bass notes ringing out so cleanly, alternating with higher chords—and during it all, his right hand is playing at lightning speed!:

Wow!! Right after that, Tatum plays a bit “out” under the beginning of the guitar solo. The percussive sound that you hear on 2 and 4 of each measure is Slam Stewart’s “slap” between his two-beat notes. Slam then takes a typically melodic solo at 9:00, bowing while he sings in falsetto. From 9:38 to 9:44, Tatum sustains a long trill and tremolo, as Earl Hines liked to do. And he takes it “out” again for the ending at 10:07.

At 10:27, Whitman brings back Red Allen’s group for an “alligator cocktail.” (In that era, “alligator” was slang for a jitterbug dancer.) Whitman announces all the musicians this time, and he says the song title, “Amen.“ This is in fact a traditional Black American church song, and was popularized the year before by Woody Herman. Herman sang it with the Andrews Sisters in the movie What’s Cookin’?, filmed in 1941 and released early in 1942, with the same traditional lyric that Allen sings: “When I was down in Tennessee, sittin’ on my pappy's knee, he said ‘Son, as you go through life, trouble’s gonna stab you like a carving knife.’” Here’s the movie clip. When Herman and his band recorded it in April 1942 for a 78 rpm release, the label said it was from the movie, but Woody sang a different lyric.

“Amen” had also been recorded for radio by the Four Vagabonds, a Black vocal quartet, in 1942 or ‘43 (exact date unknown), and it was recorded in 1964 by The Impressions, with different lyrics. There have been many other versions over the years, and various people have claimed a copyright for their versions of the song,

Our friend General Morgan plays nicely behind everyone from 12:00 onward. And this entire passage is a feature for J.C.’s great trombone, first in duet with Allen’s vocal, then in a long solo, followed by some fiery fills and double-time breaks, and finally in an unaccompanied cadenza at the end!

Now, let’s listen to the entirety of the newly discovered Jubilee 17, Part One:

THANK YOU, Konrad Nowakowski, for sharing this great music with us! Now, the second part of Jubilee 17 was discovered in the late 1980s, but is still fairly rare. We will hear those selections in another essay, as well as some items from the never-heard Jubilee 18, part one! Until then, Be Well!

All the best,

Lewis