John Handy's Louisiana Shakers (The Very First Recordings)

in the liner notes to this 1993 CD says "My feeling is, that had these been the only recordings of Handy, they would have been testament enough to his greatness." That statement is debatable -- although altoist plays fine on the two sessions -- because the recording quality is shaky and the other musicians are not up to his level. The first 11 selections (only was previously released) find doing his best with a group that includes very erratic trumpet playing by , the out-of-place electric guitar of , pianist , bassist and drummer . The final three numbers (all formerly unreleased) are better, with (on clarinet and alto) backed by pianist . would not record again as a leader for another five years, but he would cut several much better dates from 1965-70, particularly the busy 1965-66 period; therefore, this particular CD is mostly of historic value. ~ Scott Yanow