last updated 8 February, 2008
Click on the CDs below for details and sample tracks

BWCD-20 		THE BALLED EAGLE JAZZ BAND – HIGHLIGHTS
Sometimes billed as "the hottest festival band in Australia", this band re-creates the hot sound of the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band from the 1920s, and the Lu Watters sound from the 1940s. They perform most of the numbers from the King Oliver repertoire (see BWCD-6), and also many other tunes which lend themselves to a 2-trumpet treatment. These recordings were made in Adelaide, Launceston and Sydney between 1999 and 2005.

BWCD-19

BENNY'S BOYS – LET'S DANCE
The name Benny's Boys mirrors the name Benny Goodman gave to the first group to be recorded under his own leadership in 1928. Their central purpose is to celebrate the music of the "King of Swing" but their repertoire also embraces the swing era as a whole. They play well-known "standards" in a similar style, and others which Benny Goodman's goups helped to make famous. This CD was a finalist in the inaugural National "Bells" Awards in the Classic Jazz category. Benny's Boys have been enthusiastically received at major jazz festivals at Manly, Noosa and Thredbo, and have also featured in many other concert performances.

BWCD-18		 PAUL FURNISS – FLYING SOLO
Paul Furniss is an oustanding performer on many reed instruments. He is a regular player in many top bands, and is in constant demand to play at jazz festivals. Since the late 1970s he has been leading his own San Francisco Jazz Band. (See BWCD-13)
However, this CD features Paul as a soloist – on clarinet and soprano saxophone – with an interesting range of tunes, including some well known and some of his own. He is backed by two excellent rhythm sections. In three tunes by David Basden, he is backed by a piano only. The original recordings were made in 1985 and 1990.

BWCD-17		 GRAEME BELL REUNION BAND
In his inimitable style, Graeme Bell celebrated his 90th birthday with a concert tour and this new CD, the first recording he has made for over 20 years. His Reunion Band comprises musicians who have played with him in various groups over many years. Graeme has always been keen to promote Australian compositions, and this has been achieved fully on this recording with excellent numbers from some of the best Australian jazz composers, including Graeme, his brother Roger, Ade Monsbourgh, Dave Dallwitz, Johnny Sangster, Paul Furniss and others. The Independent Theatre in North Sydney was used as a recording studio, with Graeme playing the theatre's new Stuart & Sons piano.

BWCD-16

CASTLE JAZZ BAND
The Historic 1947-1950 Recordings
The tracks on this CD have been beautifully remastered from the original 78s, made over 50 years ago, which were never released on LP or CD. The tracks are true rarities and include the best records made by the Castle Jazz Band during its glory years in Portland, Oregon. A great effort was made to reduce the surface noise while keeping all the quality and excitement of the music. This CD is a true collector's item, and comes with a 32 page booklet giving a history of the band and its fabulous musicians.


BWCD-15 		B&W Music's AUSTRALIAN CLASSIC JAZZ SERIES
This CD is a compilation of some of the best tracks selected from the CDs we have released up to 2003, and featuring top Australian jazz musicians playing music from the classic jazz and ragtime era. All tracks are complete, and it is an excellent CD in its own right.


BWCD-14

ERIC HOLROYD AND HIS FIVE PENNIES
Eric's long-held admiration for the music of Red Nichols and Miff Mole has finally led to the formation of this band, specially to re-create their style of music. (In a play on words, their various bands were called Red Nichols and his Five Pennies.) Eric's band also pays tribute to other important jazz musicians of that era, such as Jimmy Dorsey, Eddie Lang and Glenn Miller. The music also takes in some earlier jazz material. This CD was recorded at North Sydney Leagues Club in September 2002.

BWCD-13 		THE 1980s RECORDINGS
Paul Furniss' San Francisco Jazz Band
This CD is dedicated to the memory of Tom Baker and Hans Karssemeyer. The band was founded in 1975 by Tom Baker, and modelled on Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band, but by 1979 Tom was turning to other styles of jazz. Paul Furniss took over as leader, dropped the two cornet lead and quickly developed a rigorous style with his striking soprano saxophone lead. These recordings of the band were made in 1985 and 1989.


BWCD-12

SYDNEY TO CHICAGO
The New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra
This band's link to Chicago and the US mid-west has been developed over four tours playing at a series of jazz festivals and clubs in and around that city. The first ten tracks on the CD are tunes and arrangements associated with Bix Beiderbecke, and the later tracks are associated with other great jazz and swing artists including Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Bunny Berrigan and Bob Crosby.


BWCD-11

JOPLIN, JELLY ROLL and FATS
John Gill
John Gill is one of the finest ragtime, stride and early jazz piano players in the world today. He has represented Australia several times at the prestigious Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri, and has performed as a soloist in many Classic Jazz and Ragtime Festivals and concert venues in Australia, the USA and Europe. All the tracks on this CD were recorded at a live performance in the Independent Theatre, North Sydney, on Saturday 28 July, 2001. This CD was a finalist at the "Bells" Awards in the category Best Australian Classic Jazz Album for 2003.

BWCD-10 		OH! SISTER, AIN'T THAT HOT
The Sydney Swing 5
The Sydney Swing 5 was born at the 1998 Southern Highlands Classic Jazz and Ragtime Festival following a request to form a group along the lines of the great Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra. Around the same time some members of the group were asked to put together a quartet to play some gigs at the Harbord Diggers Club in Sydney. Five of Sydney’s top jazz musicians make up The Sydney Swing 5 – Kevin Goodey, Graham Spedding, David Stevens, John Bartlett and Neil Macbeth.


BWCD-9

CLASSIC JAZZ AND RAGTIME AT OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE (Vol 1)
lThe Fireworks Jazz Band, John Gill, Tom Baker and Friends, The New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra, Eric Holroyd and his Five Pennies, Tom Baker's San Francisco Jazz Band
This recording captures some of the outstanding performances during a weekend in Celebration of Classic Jazz and Ragtime held in the famous Members Dining Room at the historic Old Parliament House in Canberra over the weekend of 10, 11 and 12 November 2000. This recording features the bands that appeared during the daytime sessions of 11 November. These tracks reflect the very high standard of the music presented at all sessions, and serve as a wonderful reminder of a very special occasion.
BWCD-8		 THE MELBOURNE CONNECTION
Graeme Bell - Frank Johnson - Len Barnard
On the evening of 31 August 1998, Graeme Bell, Frank Johnson and Len Barnard with Steve Waddell's Creole Bells and guest Tom Baker came together before a packed house at North Sydney Leagues Club to take us back to the golden years of Australian jazz. The concert was repeated the following evening at Clubbe Hall in Mittagong, in the NSW Southern Highlands. The tunes on this CD were recorded at those two concerts.
BWCD-7		 CAROL LEIGH IN AUSTRALIA
with Various Artists
For the past 40 years Carol Leigh has been one of the world's great jazz singers touring the world extensively. Since 1973 she has been the band singer with the Original Salty Dogs of Chicago. At the end of 1996 Carol spent a month in Australia during which she sang at two concerts at North Sydney Leagues Club appearing with Steve Waddell's Creole Bells and other top Australian musicians. This CD presents highlights from those two concerts.
BWCD-6		 THE KING OLIVER TRADITION
The Balled Eagle Jazz Band
This band was originally formed over 25 years ago by Chris Kelsey for an informal gig at a watering hole in South Australia called The Eagle Hotel. Since 1997 the band has become focussed on recreating the "hot" style of the King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Lu Watters bands, with emphasis on two-cornet harmonies and improvisation within ensemble playing. Like the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, they often use mutes on the horns.
BWCD-5		 THE SAN FRANCISCO TRADITION
Tom Baker's Big Bear Jazz Band plus guests
In the late 1930s Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band launched the world-wide traditional jazz revival on the West Coast of the United States and established the San Francisco style. From a number of live performances recorded at the North Sydney Leagues Club, Tom Baker's Big Bear Jazz Band, with various guests, takes us back to those wonderful days.

BWCD-4 		LIVE AT DURAL
The Peoria Jazz Band
When it was first formed by John Buchanan in 1987, the Peoria Jazz Band's original inspiration was the San Francisco style, revived in the '40s by Lu Watters, and more recently in the '70s by Tom Baker. Much of that music came from King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory in the '20s and '30s. This CD was recorded at several of the band's regular Friday night gigs at the Dural Memorial Hall.
BWCD-3		 THE BIX BEIDERBECKE LEGACY
The New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra
From their transcriptions of arrangements used in the original classic recordings of the 1920s and 1930s, The New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra takes us through the career of Bix from the first tune he recorded with the Wolverines in 1924, to the last tune he recorded in 1930 with the Hoagy Carmichael Orchestra. In between there are selections from the other small bands and large orchestras that Bix played with in his all-too-brief life.

BWCD-2		 DAWN CLUB REVISITED
Tom Baker's San Francisco Jazz Band
Tom Baker's two cornet San Francisco Jazz Band first came together to perform at the annual Australian Jazz Convention in 1975. Inspired by the sound of Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band, this band was one of the world's finest exponents of the San Franciso style. On this CD Tom's band takes us back to the early days at the Dawn Club, at 20 Annie Street, San Francisco, where Lu Watters' exciting music ignited the 1940s world-wide traditional jazz revival.
BWCD-1
 HAMBONE KELLY'S REVISITED
Tom Baker's Jazz Band.                   
The last two years of Lu Watters' Jazz Band were spent at its own club, Hambone Kelly's, in San Francisco. Tom Baker's Jazz band captures the sound and the spirit that existed during the late 1940s when Hambone Kelly's became the mecca of traditional jazz. Recorded over two sessions in the North Sydney Leagues Club, this CD avoids the sterile atmosphere of the recording studio that Watters disliked so much.

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