Grossman Early Jazz

1. Steve McWilliam
2. Oh You Beautiful Doll
3. Dorian Henry
4. I’ve Got The Blues
5. Pat Donohue
6. High Society
7. St. Louis Blues
8. Sandy Shalk
9. Davenport Blues
10. Poor Butterfly
11. Lasse Johansson
12. Dixie Jass Band OneStep
13. Memphis Blues
14. Big Foot Ham
15. Grandpa’s Spells
16. The Original Jelly Roll Blues
17. Midnight Mama
18. Milenberg Joys
19. Fizz Water
20. Duck Baker
21. Back Home In Indiana
22. Sweet Georgia Brown
23. Red Wing (An Indian Intermezzo)
24. There’ll Be Some Changes Made
25. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
26. Charleston
27. Where The Morning Glories Grow
28. Limehouse Blues
29. Ernie Hawkins
30. Susie (of the Islands)
31. I Need Some Pettin’
32. Weather Bird
33. Cornet Chop Suey
34. Ton Van Bergeyk
35. Kansas City Stomps
36. King Porter Stomp
37. Jubilee Stomp
38. Take It Easy
39. If I Had You
40. Moonlight Serenade

As aspiring fingerpicking guitarists started expanding their horizons from folk, blues, and ragtime in the 1970s, it was only logical to look towards early jazz tunes as a vast source for new possibilities. For one thing, they could follow the same evolutionary path from ragtime to jazz that had been taken by pianists such as Jelly Roll Morton and Harlem stride players like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. These musicians all composed in a variety of styles, but their most ambitious piano solos expanded on the classic ragtime format developed by the likes of Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Joseph Lamb, using several strains that usually changed keys at least once. Morton, the self-proclaimed inventor of jazz, would record versions of tunes like King Porter Stomp and The Original Jelly Roll Blues that are similar to straight ragtime performances, and others where there is lots of room left for embellishment and jazz improvisation. The present collection is a bonanza for guitarists who want to tackle advanced arrangements along the lines of ragtime but featuring jazz age harmonies from the playing of Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, WC Handy, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and other early jazz legends. The 32 arrangements included are by a wide assortment of guitarists including Ernie Hawkins, Pat Donohue, Lasse Johansson, Duck Baker, Ton Van Bergeyk, Sandy Shalk, Steve McWilliam, and Dorian Henry.