Fortissimo! The Combo Recordings 1954-57

Jack McVea has a secure place in the history of both jazz and R&B, both for his work with Lionel Hampton (especially on "Flying Home") and his 1946 hit "Open the Door, Richard," one of the early R&B records that was most influential in helping set the table for rock & roll. His recording career, however, was on the downside by the early '50s, and he was without a label for a year before hooking up with the Combo label for a while in the middle of the decade. This 23-track compilation is a typically thorough Ace overview of the period, mixing instrumentals and sides on which the vocals were taken by obscure singers Louise Beatty, Christine Chatman, Rudy Pitts, and Al Smith. It's more or less typical mid-'50s Los Angeles R&B, sometimes looking forward to the raunchier flavor of rock & roll, yet also containing lingering traces of jazz swing and jazz vocals that were verging on the outdated. A good-time novelty flavor pervades many of the vocal tracks, though it's not really saucy or funny enough to be too memorable. It's one for sax-and-piano-driven R&B completists, including some previously unreleased outtakes and rehearsals.