Reviews for Home Education

The average rating for Home Education based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-06-22 00:00:00 Richard Van Boxtel “I identify myself with Louis Jordan more than any other artist.” — Chuck Berry Born early in the last century between Memphis and Little Rock to a father who toured in minstrel shows and organized a brass band, Louis Jordan pronounced his name as “Louie,” not “Lewis.” After playing clarinet as a kid, Louis mastered a new instrument, the soprano sax, as played by Sidney Bechet. In the late thirties, club bands often performed as rhythm groups, known as jump bands, featuring sax and trumpet. By the early forties, Jordan's recordings reveal a shuffle on his up-tempo twelve-bar blues. But he could not find enough catchy songs. That changed after the band hired a new bass player who knew many comedy routines and novelty songs, including “Five Guys Named Moe.” Skylight Music Theater opens a three-week run this weekend. The Capitol Lounge, on Chicago’s South Side, booked the band for a while. Then he played Lakota’s Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukee. It was there, on 27th Street, that he wrote “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” after hearing a fan of the band ask a woman that question. Louis and the guy teamed up to write the song. During the band’s gig at Lakota’s, the group recorded in Chicago. When the band returned to the Capitol Lounge, it became a smash overnight with a wealth of material and comedy routines. The feel of “I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town” launched Louis Jordan as a major recording star. The hit played in four hundred thousand jukeboxes, earning Louis the nickname “Mr Jukebox.” BB King enjoyed this song and always played it for great fun. BB also enjoyed “Let the Good Times Roll,” a Louis Jordan original. I saw BB King three times. Much of his music embodied Louis Jordan. Twenty years ago King recorded Let the Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan. Louis Jordan showed how small bands could work on small stages, allowing him to work in ballrooms before good sound systems evolved. The group made music that dancers and bandstanders liked. His stage act came across as a movie scene, which Louis wanted. Along the way, “Choo Choo Ch Boogie” became his biggest-selling single. “Beware, Brother, Beware,” served as a showcase for the group’s panache. Louis liked songs with food. During “Beans and Cornbread” he calls out food combinations. “Saturday Night Fish Fry” became the band’s most requested number. Louis chose Wild Bill Davis as an arranger and to play piano and organ. Five years later, they recorded “Teardrops from My Eyes,” a jaunty and sprightly song with Wild Bill on the B-3. The five-foot-six bandleader maintained control of his people. For example, if anyone in the band smoked pot, he would fire that person on the spot. Louis would not tolerate tardiness. A tenor sax player of his, the youngest member of the band, ran late one time because he welcomed two cousins from Milwaukee who came to see him play in Chicago. The sax player left the band soon after that. Jordan did not care about such things as gold records. His wife found the one for “Choo Choo Ch Boogie” in a pile of seventy-eights held by a niece who played it many times. I enjoyed this story as a snapshot of music from the thirties and forties that served as precursor to rock ’n’ roll a few years later. For his “Johnny B Goode" ten years later, Chuck Berry used the opening guitar riff from Louis Jordan's 1946 "Ain't That Just Like a Woman.” Although rock ’n’ roll evolved from many influences, some people consider Louis Jordan as the father. Paul Cebar, a Milwaukee band leader, wrote his college thesis on the varieties of rhythm and blues with an emphasis on Louis Jordan. The R&B Cadets, his dance band in the early eighties, played New Orleans-inflected music, packing the house at Century Hall, shortly after I moved here. The Cadets now play an annual two-day reunion gig at Shank Hall in November. Always a great date night of hip-shakin'. Let the good times roll.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-12-16 00:00:00 Bernd Winterberg Thoroughly researched exploration of the life and career of jump blues great Louis Jordan. I would say the book is a little dry at times in its zeal to capture every tour and permutation of the band, but one still gets a good three dimensional view of the performer thanks to numerous interviews with friends, band mates and associates.