Irving Kaufman Anthology: The Last Recording Pioneer CD

Recording information: ??/1914-08/1974.
Singer Irving Kaufman is perhaps best known for sounding painfully out of date on quite a few late-'20s jazz recordings, lowering the quality of some performances featuring cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. However, this Archeophone release shows that Kaufman did have a prime period, for the great majority of the 26 selections are from 1914-1923. Kaufman's clear enunciation and enthusiasm, which sounded quite square in 1927, was almost hip for 1917 and he hints at jazz as early as 1915 on the intriguing "Listen to That Dixie Band." Many of these early selections have their charm and there are duets with Billy Murray ("Are You from Dixie") and Irving's brother Jack Kaufman ("Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean") plus a rare collaboration with pianist Eubie Blake ("Sweet Lady") from 1921. Of the five selections from after 1925, a duet with Vaughn DeLeath on "You Took Advantage of Me" is quite bizarre while "That's the Good Old Sunny South" is both topical for the time and nostalgic. There are also two numbers from 1946-1947 (on which Kaufman sounds like a middle-of-the-road crooner) and a privately recorded version of "God Bless America" from 1974. Overall, this program allows one to reappraise the talents of Irving Kaufman. ~ Scott Yanow