Slim Gaillard - 1938-1946 (CD)

All Music Guide

A true original, Slim Gaillard would have been a star only on his merits as a singer, dancer, and multi-instrumentalist specializing in guitar and vibes, but it was the addition of his one-of-a-kind invented language that made him a legend. It's unlikely that even Gaillard himself knew what he was going on about when he sang of "the flat-foot floogie with the floy-floy" or "cee-ment mixers putty putty," but the intoxicating mix of jive slang, foreign languages, and just plain inspired nonsense is habit-forming. This well-chosen set of 22 tracks covers Gaillard's most fruitful era, starting with his duet sides with Slam Stewart (including "The Flat Foot Floogie," natch) and continuing through to his small-combo era and his mid-'40s big band. All the most famous tunes are here, along with oddities like "B-19," a wartime tune with a bizarre spoken dialogue between Slim and Slam as a pilot and bombardier that shows just how weird popular culture got during World War II. The sound quality i...s oddly variable on this release; some of these songs sound notably better on other compilations, but this is probably the best single-disc introduction to Slim Gaillard's unique world. - Stewart Mason, All Music Guide Read more Less