Joe Carroll - The Epic & Prestige Sessions...and more

2017 European CD collection.

Little Joe Carroll (1915-1981) was an exuberant, earthy, modern jazz scat singer with roots going back to Satchmo’s happily distinctive singing, but coming most clearly from Joe’s idol, Leo Watson, the first great pioneer scat singer. He came into his own after replacing Kenny ‘Pancho’ Hagood with the Dizzy Gillespie orchestra in December 1949. Carroll and Gillespie’s relationship, which lasted until June 1953, is remembered for its exciting, funfilled scat singing and, with Dizzy, Joe traveled to Europe, where he found more appreciation from overseas audiences. It also gave him the chance to make
several recordings in Paris.

The Epic and Prestige sessions here captured all the spirit, humor and inventiveness of the Joe Carroll voice. They are entirely illustrative of the extrovert, jumping, freewheeling ways indelibly associated with him over the years. He jives and scats through an excellent collection of bop-styled arrangements of well-known standards and classic bop tunes, graced with some fine blowing by such jazz greats as Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green, Seldon Powell, Ray Bryant, Hank Jones and his friend Bill Graham, coauthor with Joe of the popular ditty Oo-Shoo-Bee-Doo-Bee.

Although his career had its ups and downs, he managed to infuse his life with vitality and happiness. “When you’re happy you project that feeling to your audience… and when I’m on, I am happy. Look at Pops or Dizzy. They make you feel good.”