More Jazz in the Mountains

The second LP taken from concerts performed at Denver's Elitch Gardens during 1967-69, the lineup of musicians here is similar to what would become by late-1968 the World's Greatest Jazz Band: trumpeters Billy Butterfield and Yank Lawson, clarinetists Bob Wilber and Peanuts Hucko, trombonists Cutty Cutshall (a month before his death in 1968), Carl Fontana and Lou McGarity, tenor great Bud Freeman, pianist Ralph Sutton, bassist Bob Haggart and drummers Morey Feld and Gus Johnson. The repertoire is typical Dixieland (with plenty of sparks on a lengthy version of "Royal Garden Blues") but the musicians sound quite inspired by each other's presence and the music is consistently exciting. Other highlights include a pair of features for trombonists McGarity and Cutshall ("Cherry" and "Beale Street Blues"), the interplay between trumpeters Lawson and Butterfield on "St. James Infirmary Blues" and an explosive rendition of "That's A Plenty."