Bud Freeman
When Bud Freeman first matured, his was the only strong alternative approach on the tenor to the harder-toned style of Coleman Hawkins and he was an inspiration for Lester Young. Freeman, one of the top tenors of the 1930s, was also one of the few saxophonists (along with the slightly later Eddie Miller) to be accepted in the Dixieland world, and his oddly angular but consistently swinging solos were an asset to a countless number of hot sessions.
Freeman, excited (as were the other members of the Austin High School Gang in Chicago) by the music of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, took up the C-melody sax in 1923, switching to tenor two years later. It took him time to develop his playing, which was still pretty primitive in 1927 when he made his recording debut with the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans. Freeman moved to New York later that year and worked with Red Nichols' Five Pennies, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Ben Pollack, Joe Venuti, Gene Kardos, and others. He starred on Eddie Condon's memorable 1933 recording "The Eel." After stints with Joe Haymes and Ray Noble, Freeman was a star with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra and Clambake Seven (1936-1938) before having a short unhappy stint with Benny Goodman (1938). He led his short-lived but legendary Summe Cum Laude Orchestra (1939-1940) which was actually an octet, spent two years in the military, and then from 1945 on, alternated between being a bandleader and working with Eddie Condon's freewheeling Chicago jazz groups. Freeman traveled the world, made scores of fine recordings, and stuck to the same basic style that he had developed by the mid-'30s (untouched by a brief period spent studying with Lennie Tristano). Bud Freeman was with the World's Greatest Jazz Band (1968-1971), lived in London in the late '70s, and ended up back where he started, in Chicago. He was active into his eighties, and a strong sampling of his recordings are currently available on CD.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Golden Selection (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Master Tape Records on 25 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All That Jazz, Vol. 112: All Stars - Bud Freeman
Bud Freeman, Roy Eldridge, Bud Freeman All Stars, Shorty Baker
Jazz - Released by Jube Legends on 1 Feb 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chicago Austin High School Jazz
Pop - Released by SMSP on 12 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete V-Disc Sessions
Jazz - Released by Jazz Unlimited on 30 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Something To Remember You By
Jazz - Released by 1201 MUSIC on 15 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meet Me in San Juan
Jazz - Released by 1201 MUSIC on 14 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Swingin' Big Band Classics (1927-1945)
Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Newport News (Original Recording Remastered 2013)
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Bethlehem Records on 28 Jan 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Stop, Look and Listen to Bud Freeman
Jazz - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 11 Mar 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Jazz Masters
Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Figures / Bud Freeman (1939-1940)
Jazz - Released by Collector Records Greece on 29 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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All that Jazz, Vol. 124: Bud Freeman, Vol. 2 – The Trio and the Band (2019 Remaster)
Bud Freeman Orchestra, Bud Freeman Trio, Bud Freeman
Jazz - Released by Jube Legends on 24 Jan 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Bud Freeman: Tenor Sax And Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Blue Velvet on 15 Dec 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Planet Jazz
Traditional Jazz & New Orleans - Released by RCA Victor on 4 Jun 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Could Write a Book
Traditional Jazz & New Orleans - Released by Good Time Records on 16 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo