Jazz Man Records


Jazz Man Records was an American record company and independent record label devoted to traditional New Orleans-style jazz. David Stuart '' founded the label in 1941 and sold it to Marili Morden and Nesuhi Ertegun. The label and its namesake – Jazz Man Record Shop, in Hollywood – were in the vanguard of an international revival of traditional jazz in the 1940s.

History

Jazz Man Records was founded in 1941 by David Stuart, owner of the Jazz Man Record Shop in Hollywood, California. The label was an offshoot of the shop, established in 1939 as the only shop on the West Coast that specialized in used 78s for jazz collectors. Stuart was a purist who felt that traditional New Orleans jazz was the real jazz. He preserved and promoted the traditional jazz music that had fallen out of favor in the late 1920s, and regarded the swing music that had eclipsed it with contempt.
Stuart modeled Jazz Man Records after Commodore Records, released by a comparable record shop operating in Manhattan since 1938. He adopted its style of printing the names and instrumentation of the personnel on the label. The label also bore the address of the Jazz Man Record Shop, the exclusive sales outlet. Stuart produced the first recordings by Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band December 19–20, 1941. A second recording session with the Watters band was produced in March 1942.
In June 1942 Stuart produced a historic recording session in New Orleans with Bunk Johnson, putting together a group he called Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band.
In December 1942 Jazz Man Records released four unreleased sides by Jelly Roll Morton, recorded in 1938, in partnership with Nesuhi Ertegun. Ertegun had acquired the solo piano recordings, made in Washington, D.C., while Morton was being interviewed by Alan Lomax, from a private collection in 1941.
Ertegun purchased Jazz Man Records from David Stuart in late 1946. In January 1947 Jazz Man record labels were redesigned and a dark green color, matching that of Crescent Records. Ertegun retired the Crescent label.
On January 15, 1952, Jazz Man Records sold its masters to Good Time Jazz Records for $5,500. Recordings were produced on the Jazz Man label through 1954. The last was an album by Joe Venuti and Tony Romano, recorded in October 1954 and released the following month.

Select discography

The Jazz Man Records discography is available online from the Jazz Discography Project and is further detailed in Cary Ginell's 2010 book, Hot Jazz for Sale: Hollywood's Jazz Man Record Shop.
NumberArtistTitlesRecording DateNotes
Jazz Man 1Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Maple Leaf Rag"
"Black and White Rag"
December 19–20, 1941
Jazz Man 2Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Irish Black Bottom"
"Memphis Blues"
December 19–20, 1941
Jazz Man 3Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Muskrat Ramble"
"Smokey Mokes"
December 19–20, 1941
Jazz Man 4Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"At a Georgia Camp Meeting"
"Original Jelly Roll Blues"
December 19–20, 1941
Jazz Man 5Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Cake Walking Babies"
"Riverside Blues"
March 29, 1942
Jazz Man 6Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Come Back Sweet Papa"
"Tiger Rag"
March 29, 1942
Jazz Man 7Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Temptation Rag"
"Fidgety Feet"
March 22, 1942
March 29, 1942
Jazz Man 8Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band"Down by the River"
"Panama"
June 11, 1942
Jazz Man 9Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band"Weary Blues"
"Moose March"
June 11, 1942
Jazz Man 10Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band"Storyville Blues"
"Bunk's Blues"
June 11, 1942Recorded as "Those Draftin' Blues"
Recorded as "Old Time Blues"
Jazz Man Ltd. Edition 1Bunk JohnsonInterview by Eugene Williams, parts one and twoJune 12, 1942Fifty hand-numbered copies, most autographed by Johnson
Jazz Man Ltd. Edition 2Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band
Interview by Eugene Williams, part three
"Yes, Lord, I'm Crippled"
June 12, 1942
June 11, 1942
Fifty hand-numbered copies, most autographed by Johnson
Jazz Man 11Jelly Roll Morton"Winin' Boy Blues"
"Honky Tonk Music"
December 1938
Jazz Man 12Jelly Roll Morton"Finger Buster"
"Creepy Feeling"
December 1938
Jazz Man 13Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Daddy Do"
"Milenberg Joys"
March 29, 1942
Jazz Man 14Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"London Blues"
"Sunset Cafe Stomp"
March 29, 1942
Jazz Man 15Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band"Terrible Blues"
"High Society"
March 29, 1942
Jazz Man 16Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band"Pallet on the Floor"
"Ballin' the Jack"
June 11, 1942
Jazz Man 17Bunk Johnson's Original Superior Band
Wally Rose
"Yes, Lord, I'm Crippled"
"Hot House Rag"
June 11, 1942
March 22, 1942
Jazz Man 18Johnny Wittwer"Aunt Hagar's Blues"
"Ragged but Right"
December 1945
Jazz Man 19Johnny Wittwer"Ace in the Hole"
"Two Kinds of People"
December 1945
Jazz Man 20Johnny Wittwer"Ragtime Nightingale"
"Bill Bailey"
December 1945
Jazz Man 21Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Creole Song"
"South"
August 3, 1944Reissue of Crescent Records 1
All eight Crescent discs are re-released by Jazz Man Records 1946–1947
Jazz Man 22Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Blues for Jimmie"
"Get Out of Here"
August 3, 1944Reissue of Crescent Records 2
Jazz Man 23Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Maryland"
"Oh Didn't He Ramble"
September 8, 1945Reissue of Crescent Records 3
Jazz Man 24Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"1919"
"Down Home Rag"
September 8, 1945Reissue of Crescent Records 4
Jazz Man 25Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Careless Love"
"Do What Ory Say"
August 5, 1945Reissue of Crescent Records 5
Jazz Man 26Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Ory's Creole Trombone"
"Original Dixieland One-Step"
November 3, 1945Reissue of Crescent Records 6
Jazz Man 27Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Panama"
"Under the Bamboo Tree"
August 5, 1945Reissue of Crescent Records 7
Jazz Man 28Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band"Weary Blues"
"Maple Leaf Rag"
November 3, 1945Reissue of Crescent Records 8
Jazz Man 29Pete Daily's Rhythm Kings"Sobbin' Blues"
Jazz Man Strut
December 24, 1947
Jazz Man 30Pete Daily's Rhythm Kings"Yelping Hound Blues"
"Clarinet Marmalade"
December 24, 1947
Jazz Man 31Turk Murphy's Bay City Stompers"Shake That Thing"
"Kansas City Man Blues"
December 31, 1947
Jazz Man 32Turk Murphy's Bay City Stompers"Yellow Dog Blues"
"Brother Lowdown"
December 31, 1947
Jazz Man 33Darnell Howard's Frisco Footwarmers"Some of These Days"
"Dippermouth Blues"
April 29, 1950
Jazz Man 34Darnell Howard's Frisco Footwarmers"Pretty Baby"
"St. Louis Blues"
April 29, 1950Last session before its masters are sold to Good Time Jazz Records