Fool That I Am (Digital 45)

An American jazz violinist and bandleader, Leon Abbey started his career in 1920 as a classical violinist with the orchestra of J. Rosamond Johnson. In 1925 he recorded with the classic blues singer Clara Smith. In 1925 and 1926, Leon led a band called the Savoy Bearcats that enjoyed a long residence at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City and recorded three sessions for Victor in August 1926. In 1927 the Bearcats spent a year based in Buenos Aires, with excursions through Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, but when Abbey obtained a gig in Paris, the former Bearcats returned to New York and he had to put together a new group. He spent the next 11 years in Europe, not counting two trips to India. He recorded some unreleased sides in England in 1928 and did another session in Denmark in 1938 that yielded an album entitled "Jazz and Hot Dance," his only known album as a leader. As World War II loomed, Abbey returned to the United States, where he directed Ethel Waters' band in 1940. After touring for a while with his own band, Abbey settled in Chicago. From 1947 onward he worked regularly in a trio with Barrington Perry (piano) and Robert Lee "Rail" Wilson (bass). Al Benson, the African American entrepreneur who started the Parrot, Blue Lake and Old Swingmaster labels in Chicago, used Perry and Wilson in his Benson All Star Orchestra, which around September 1948 cut the very first studio session Benson is known to have supervised. In 1953, for the Parrot label, Abbey and his trio, along with an unidentified female vocalist, cut one of the rarest singles in the Parrot catalog, with only one known vinyl copy in existance to date. The single, "Fool That I Am (Part I)" b/w "Fool That I Am (Part II)," was billed as Al Benson with the Leon Abbey Trio. The A side of the single features the unidentified (but excellent) vocalist alone with the trio, while side B curiously features Al Benson dramatically speaking the lyrics (not singing) while the trio plays. The unidentified vocalist comes back in for the last 30 seconds to sing the last verse to end the tune. This ultra-rare single is presented here newly remastered in it's original format.

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