Slippin' Around: Miff Mole, Vol. 1

One of the top trombonists of the second half of the 1920s, Miff Mole had a highly original style that featured wide-interval jumps and occasional whole-tone scales. Other than two big-band selections from 1937, all of his recordings as a leader prior to 1944 are on Slippin' Around, Vol. 1 and Slippin' Around Again, Vol. 2. Vol. 1 includes 14 numbers by Miff Mole's Molers of 1927-1928, a recording band that was basically Red Nichols' Five Pennies: cornetist Nichols, Mole, pianist Arthur Schutt, guitarist Dick McDonough, and drummer Vic Berton, plus reedist Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Tarto on tuba, drummer Ray Bauduc, Fud Livingston on reeds, bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini, and guitarist Eddie Lang on various tracks. Mole's four numbers backing stage singer Sophie Tucker (who sounds pretty strong in 1927), four cuts with Red & Miff's Stompers, two by the Red Nichols Orchestra, and a pair of test pressings from a Mole session in 1930 (with trumpeter Phil Napoleon) wrap up this intriguing set. Highlights include adventurous versions of "Hurricane," "Delirium," "Davenport Blues," "Imagination," and "Feeling No Pain."