Ted Lewis And His Band – 1928

Background information about the recordings can be found below the audio selections.

I have had a copy of this Ted Lewis record in my collection for many years.  In 2021, I added the “A Jazz Holiday” side to Radio Dismuke’s playlist.

But, somehow, I have no recollection of ever having listened to the “Jungle Blues” side until a few months ago, as I was looking for records to play on the station’s annual New Year’s broadcast.

How that could happen is beyond me because I think “Jungle Blues,” a Jelly Roll Morton composition, is, by far, the best of the two sides.   I prefer Jelly Roll Morton’s recording of the song over Ted Lewis’s.  But that does not diminish the fact that I think the Ted Lewis version is also very good.

I do not believe I have a copy of Jelly Roll Morton’s version in my collection.   But I have come across a few Jelly Roll Morton records in the Edward Mitchell collection.  As I continue to digitize Eddie’s collection for inclusion on Radio Dismuke, I will keep my eye out for a possible copy.

Speaking of Eddie, I acquired the particular copy from which I digitized the two recordings here from him.

In November 2022, I drove to Waco and met up with Eddie to digitize the records he planned on presenting in the upcoming New Year’s broadcast.   We recorded the broadcast virtually that year, rather than in person, which required me to digitize everybody’s records before the broadcast.

Before I returned to Fort Worth, Eddie placed several piles of records on a table.  They were either duplicates of what he already had or records outside the scope of his collecting interests.  He said he didn’t feel like going through the hassle of listing them for sale on eBay.  He told me to look through the records for any I might be interested in, and he would let me have them for $1 each.

The record here was one of a boxful that I picked out.   When I came across it, I knew I already had a copy of “A Jazz Holiday” in my collection.  But I couldn’t recall off the top of my head what sort of condition it was in.  But this copy was in beautiful condition.  So I went ahead and got it as a possible upgrade copy.

That visit turned out to be the last time I would see Eddie, as he passed away the following August.

So I am now, at long last, correcting whatever oversight caused me to overlook “Jungle Blues” when I added “A Jazz Holiday” to the station in 2021.  And I will compare my digitization of “A Jazz Holiday” here with the one I did in 2021 and keep the better of the two in the station.