Slim Gaillard: Slim Gaillard 1946

When it comes to mixing humor and music few can compete with Slim Gaillard, the man who brought “vout,” “roonie” and “rootie” into the American vocabulary and was a master of using nonsense words to suggest he was talking in a foreign language. Included here are his hilarious four part operatic parody “Opera in Vout” (“Groove Juice Symphony”) and “School Kids Hop,” the lyrics of which anticipate Chuck Berry’s writing (“School Days,” “Almost Grown”). Originally his partner was Slam Stewart, with whom he made the hit “Flat Foot Floogie.” Here his partners in comedy include Bam Brown and Leo Watson. Gaillard was also a pretty good guitarist and decent, if not original, boogie woogie pianist. On this CD the best tracks from an instrumental standpoint, they are very good, are the ones he cut with a septet including Howard McGhee and Lucky Thompson.

Originally Published April 1, 1998