Studies In Clinton

This second Larry Clinton Hep CD dates from 1938 with five numbers from 1939-1940. A definitive disc featuring Clinton's fine jazz-oriented dance band, this program includes Bea Wain's hit versions of "My Reverie," "Deep Purple," and "Martha," plus six of Clinton's riff instrumental "Studies" (which had begun with "A Study in Brown," recorded by Bunny Berigan): "Study in Blue," "A Study in Green," "Study in Red," "A Study in Scarlet," "Study in Surrealism," and "Study in Modernism." Listening to those recordings and others — such as "Milenburg Joys," "Dippermouth Blues," "Zig Zag," and "Sunday" — it seems obvious that Clinton had one of the most underrated jazz big bands of the era. None of his sidemen were major names, but tenor saxophonist Tony Zimmers was a fine player, many of the musicians were quite capable of taking concise solos, and, though Clinton's charts may have been a bit derivative at times, they always swung.