Even More Mellow Cats 'N' Kittens-Hot R&B And Cool Blues 1945-1951 CD - Import

The vaults of Modern Records seem to be deeper than anyone had suspected, filling a third volume of R&B/jump blues rarities with this 24-track compilation (with further installments apparently on the way). It's geared toward collectors rather than the average fan of the styles, with 14 of the cuts being previously unreleased, and most of the performers on the obscure side. There are songs by fairly famous artists -- Helen Humes, Johnny Otis, Hadda Brooks, Esther Phillips (singing with Otis as Little Esther), Jimmy Witherspoon (singing with Al "Cake" Wichard & His Sextette), and Scat Man (i.e., Scatman Crothers, known more as an actor than a singer) -- but in the main, it's for those looking for deep, deep scoops into the late-'40s/early-'50s West Coast R&B scene. It might not be the cream of the crop, but in common with the previous volumes of this series, it's pretty respectable, and more varied than many compilations of these styles; even the track credited to "Unknown Combo" ("Pitch a Boogie," with a woman singer) is pretty fair jump blues. As for variations on that theme, some tunes show a lighter, jazzier bounce with a hint of pop novelty (Three Bits of Rhythm's "Drop a Nickel in the Slot" and "The Signifying Monkey"); others are at least as much jazz swing as R&B (the Happy Johnson Sextette's instrumental "B Splat," Butch Stone's "My Feet's Too Big"); and some are soulful ballads (Al "Cake" Wichard's "Pinocchio Blues"). Hadda Brooks, meanwhile, tears it up on the keyboards on an alternate take of "Bully Wully Boogie." ~ Richie Unterberger

The third volume in Ace's ongoing series of mostly up-tempo west coast R&B obscurities from the late 1940s and early 1950s upholds the standards of its predecessors and may just be the best one yet. An incredible 14 of these tracks have never been releas