Sharkey and His Kings of Dixieland [GHB]

In 2008, Jasmine released the largest compilation ever devoted to the music of trumpeter and vocalist Sharkey Bonano. Its 58 tracks represent his complete Kappa and Capitol recordings, which were made in New Orleans between June 8, 1949 and November 2, 1953. With the exception of a few Storyville, Circle, and Riverside albums, these are most of Bonano's recordings from this period. They were preceded only by about a dozen titles dating from 1936. Bonano, whose approach to jazz could be compared with that of Wingy Manone or young Louis Prima, was a boisterous and sometimes bawdy singer. It is Bonano who grabs the microphone and cuts loose during the "Famous Door Boogie." His fellow musicians on the 1949 sessions include trombonist Santo Pecora of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and clarinetist Larry Shields, a cardinal member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. This calls up parallels with recordings made during the '50s by trumpeter Pee Wee Erwin and a band driven by drummer Tony Spargo,