Like the radio listening and record-buying public of 1922, this treasure chest of old-fashioned entertainments maintains only circumstantial ties with jazz, focusing instead on the prevailing styles of vaudeville, novelty ragtime, and syncopated dance music. These marvelous old recordings document a fascinating chapter in early-20th century cultural history, rich and thick with material that is often thrust aside by jazz critics zealously guarding a canon of "legitimated" music. One common objection is the "arranged" nature of these performances. Paul Whiteman is forever an easy target, of course, but "Early in the Morning Blues" and "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" as played by Henry Busse & the Virginians and "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)" by Ernest L. Stevens & His Dance Trio are glorious relics of a bygone age. There are excellent entries by the Ted Lewis Jazz Band, composer/pianist Zez Confrey & His Orchestra, the Isham Jones Orchestra, as well as Carl Fenton (Walter "Gus" Haenschen) & His Orchestra. The selection of popular vocalists includes Fanny Brice, Billy Murray, Al Jolson, Aileen Stanley, Irving Kaufman, and Henry Burr. The inclusion of Irving and Jack Kaufman's cover version of "Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean" rather than the original recording, a priceless artifact that included the voices of Ed Gallagher and Al Shean (uncle to the famous Marx Brothers), is puzzling but not unpleasant. This song, and the Kaufmans themselves, were extremely popular in 1922 and therefore fit snugly into this outstanding compilation. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide