Louis Prima - Jump, Jive An’ Wail: The Essential Louis Prima

Aye-yi-yi lounge party music

After gaining fame and popularity during the big band era, Prima found he had to survive the post-band slump. He did so admirably, by adapting to a smaller combo format and by adding Keely Smith as his singer and soon-to-be wife (she features here on four tracks, including That Old Black Magic and I’ve Got You Under My Skin). The title track is a happy rocking foot-tapper, and other well-known songs such as Angelina, Lazy River and Buona Sera all show him as a consummate showman whose out-going personality pervades both his singing and upbeat band arrangements. There’s great humour in many places, as on the rhymes on Luigi and Felicia, No Capecia. Probably the best thing about this fine compilation, however, is the realisation that you know and respect so many of the selections, including, of course, Prima’s famous take on I Wanna Be Like You. He was an infectious humorist and a great bandleader, and this collection should well introduce a new generation to his work.

Capitol/EMI | 395 2662

Reviewed by Kingsley Abbott
<< Back to Issue 342