Harlem Roots: The Big Bands, Volume 1

Churned out by the hundreds over a seven-year stretch during the 1940s, "soundies" were the precursor to MTV videos: brief lip-synced performances by popular acts of the day—most of them straightforward (although some featured sets, dancing, costumes, and/or a hint of a storyline)—shown on a video jukebox called the Panoram. This opening volume of Storyville's Harlem Roots series is a pretty hip compilation, featuring bandleaders Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Lucky Millinder, not to mention sidemen and singers such as Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Ray Nance (all with Ellington), Jimmy Rushing, Freddie Green (both in the Basie band), and the wonderful Sister Rosetta Tharpe (featured on two of Millinder's four tunes). Most of these clips have been available in various formats for years, and—from a strictly musical standpoint—are something less than a cavalcade of classics; for every bona fide standard (Ellington's "I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good" and "Cottontail," Calloway's "Blues in the Night” and "Minnie the Moocher," Basie's "Air Mail Special"), there are two or three silly throwaways like Cab's "The Skunk Song" and Millinder's "I Want a Big Fat Mama," and the frequent minstrel-like mugging may prove discomfiting to some viewers. Still, there's enough great dancing (the Lindy Hoppers accompanying "Cottontail" are simply amazing), cool swing era clothes, and just plain flashy showmanship (especially by Calloway) to sustain interest in these 20 black-and-white clips served up in less than an hour in Dolby Digital 5.1 and mono sound. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)