1944-45

While Muggsy’s classic style remains unchanged here, Bud’s playing can be heard to have taken on more polish. Perhaps a result of his big band experiences his playing shows more of the swing style than the traditional dixieland approach. By the end of the V-Disc session, on the various takes of You Took Advantage Of Me, Bud clearly dominates the proceedings. Although he recorded the Rodgers and Hart standard frequently throughout the rest of his career, this recording is perhaps the definitive one. And if you thought Bud was not an improviser, listen to the differences in the takes presented here for the first time. Bud’s own V-Disc session reflected his own sense of style as well as his unique sense of humour. By 1945, the jazz world had been split by the emergence of the boppers, and here Bud parodies current trends in both The Latest Thing In Hot Jazz and For Musicians Only, then aptly demonstrates how the music should be played on two standards. Although both Bud and Muggsy are regarded as stars of “Chicago jazz”, their playing shows just how eclectic the category had become by the mid-1940s.