Bunk Johnson - Bunk Johnson & Mutt Carey in New York (CD)

All Music Guide

All 11 selections included here were released for the first time on this 1993 CD. The legendary trumpeter Bunk Johnson is heard with three different groups shortly before he returned permanently to New Orleans. Best are four numbers with an all-star sextet including clarinetist Albert Nicholas and pianist James P. Johnson; during the same day, Mutt Carey (who had recently left Kid Ory's group) is featured with the same band, although the two trumpeters do not actually play together. Bunk is also heard with a pair of pickup groups including either James P. or Dick Wellstood on piano and the soundalike cornetist Jerry Blumberg. The recording quality is a bit erratic on the live performances and the playing is not flawless, so the music is really recommended to New Orleans jazz historians rather than more general Dixieland fans.

- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide