"This 2-CD set explores the career of pianist-singer Johnny Hess, who was the first musical partner of Charles Trenet, one of France's great, legendary performers. Their comedic, boogie and swing-oriented duo split up in the mid-1930s, with Trenet skyrocketing into the upper stratosphere of notoriety, while Hess struggled to find his footing as a solo performer. He did okay for a while, but began to stumble when public tastes changed, and his stylizations did not. This generous retrospective gathers his work with a number of bandleaders and his solo recordings (his earlier collaborations with Trenet are gathered in a separate series of Trenet's work)... The music is generally ebullient and glib; it's fun stuff, although it does tend to blur together after a while. One is forced to admit that Hess was a comparatively limited musician, yet these recordings are still quite fun, and once again, the Fremeaux label has done a superlative job rescuing yet another performer's legacy from oblivion... This collection is certainly worth checking out, and works well in a mix of music of similar vintage."
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
