Norfolk Jazz and Jubilee Quartet Vol. 3 (1925-1927)

Now recognized as a major influence upon the Golden Gate Quartet and the Soul Stirrers, the group billed both as the Norfolk Jazz Quartet and the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet made large numbers of 78 rpm records over a span of two decades. Volume three in their complete works as reissued by Document presents 24 sides cut for the Paramount label, beginning with two selections recorded in March 1925 and closing with seven titles dating from February 1927. This was the beginning of their most intensely religious period, as is evidenced by a ratio of 22 sacred songs to one solitary pair of secular rhythm tunes. While "Down by the Riverside" and the old "Let the Church Roll On" are inspired examples of spiritually infused collective ritual, it is hard not to focus upon "Queen Street Rag" and "Louisiana Bo Bo", during which the group delivers spectacular performances that dazzle and amaze, as the voices perfectly emulate the pneumatic polyphony of a real live jazz band. "Louisiana Bo Bo" was very popular in the late ‘20s and was recorded by Curtis Mosby, the Georgia Cotton Pickers, B.A. Rolfe, and Lew Weiner's Gold and Black Aces. A "Bo Bo" was a type of dance, and Fats Waller wrote a hot tune called "Georgia Bo Bo" which was recorded by Lil Armstrong's Hot Shots in 1928.