One of the most enduring and innovative Jazz partnerships

304 minutes of music, on 4 CDs and 99 tracks!

Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang cut different figures. Joe was combative, a joker and man about town. Eddie was quiet, considerate and careful with money. They were born in Philadephia - Eddie in 1902, Joe in 1903 - to Italian immigrant parents. Both studied the violin. Their partnership began in their mid teens when Eddie joined Joe's newly-formed band as a guitarist. Soon they were performing as a duo. Eddie made the early running. In 1919 he joined Charlie Kerr's Orchestra as a violinist, switching to banjo. For a few years, he was busy, gigging in Philadelphia and visiting New York to record with Kerr. Joe sometimes went to New York with Eddie, looking to jam with local Jazzmen. By 1924, Eddie was in Atlantic City with the Scranton Sirens. There he sat in with the Mound City Blue Blowers - a raucous band led by comb and paper player, Red McKenzie. Not an obvious choice for Lang - but they were well known and they were about to cut a record. In 1925, Joe joined Roger Kahn, then one of the highest payers in the music business. In September 1926, when Joe signed a two year contract with Kahn, Eddie too was on Kahn's payroll.

The first cut in this collection is the first they made in their own names. The routine Black and Blue Bottom is transformed by Joe's inventiveness and Eddie's energy. It was hailed as an innovation. Venuti and Lang were settling into what looked like becoming a long partnership. By April 1927 both men were New York jazz fixtures. Whether under their names or the leadership of others they were surrounded by great musicians, like Lonnie Johnson (Lang was one of the first white players to record with African Americans), Bix Beiderbecke, Adrian Rollini and King Oliver.

The partnership ended when Lang died aged 30 following a tonsillectomy. Venuti soldiered on for some decades, enduring some obscurity before being 'rediscovered' in the late 1960s. He died in 1978 aged 74.

Track Listing

• Black And Blue Bottom
• Stringing The Blues
• Wild Cat
• Sunshine
• Eddie's Twister
• April Kisses
• Doin' Things
• Goin' Places
• Prelude
• A Little Love, A Little Kiss
• There'll Be Some Changes Made
• My Syncopated Melody Man
• I'm Somebody's Somebody Now
• I Like What You Like
• Ain't That A Grand And Glorious Feeling?
• Whoo-oo? You-oo, That's Who!
• Under The Moon
• Kickin' The Cat
• Beatin' The Dog
• Cheese And Crackers
• A Mug Of Ale
• Wringin' And Twistin'
• Melody Man's Dream
• Perfect
• Penn Beach Blues
• Four String Joe
• Dinah
• The Wild Dog
• Rainbow Dreams
• Add A Little Wiggle
• My Baby Came Home
• From Monday On
• The Man From The South
• Pretty Trix
• My Handy Man
• Organ Grinder's Blues
• Good Little Bad Little You
• Jeaninne I Dream Of Lilac Time
• The Blue Room
• Sensation
• I'll Never Be The Same
• How Long, How Long Blues
• Deck Hand Blues
• Church Street Sobbin' Blues
• Wild Geese Blues
• How Much Can I Stand
• Work Ox Blues
• The Risin' Sun
• Two Stone Stomp
• Have To Change Keys To Play These Blues
• Tell Me Woman Blues
• Frisco Bound Blues
• St. Louis Fair Blues
• I Am Calling Blues
• In The Bottle Blues
• Whatya Want Me To Do?
• My Honey's Lovin' Arms
• Goin' Home
• Jet Black Blues
• Blue Blood Blues
• Guitar Blues
• A Handful Of Riffs
• Blue Guitars
• Bull Frog Moan
• Deep Minor Rhythm
• Midnight Call
• Hot Fingers
• Blue Room
• Runnin' Ragged
• Apple Blossom
• Raggin' The Scale
• Put And Take
• Really Blue
• I've Found A New Baby
• Sweet Sue, Just You
• Pardon Me Pretty Baby
• Little Girl
• Little Buttercup
• Tempo De Modernage
• There's No Other Girl
• Now That I Need You You're Gone
• The Wolf Wobble
• Toto Blues
• Pickin' My Way Guitar Mania Pt.I
• Feeling My Way Guitar Mania Pt.2
• Fit As A Fiddle
• Baby
• Hey Young Fella
• Jigsaw Puzzle Blues
• Pink Elephants
• Red Velvet
• Black Satin
• Venuti's Pagliacci

Additional Details

Label: JSP Records

Genre: Jazz

Release Date: 07/22/03

UPC: 788065901622