Syncopated Classic by Greg Ruby & the Rhythm Runners

Syncopated Classic unearths the nearly lost compositions of 1920's Seattle jazz professor and composer, Frank D. Waldron. In 2015, guitarist Greg Ruby located a photocopy of Waldron's 1924 self-published book. For the first time in generations, his compositions can be heard again.

“Greg Ruby has captured the spirit of early jazz by retrieving and rearranging the long lost compositions of legendary Seattle wind instrument “professor” Frank Waldron, mentor to Quincy Jones, Buddy Catlett and others. These songs are an absolute delight, a window into a joyful, rambunctious jazz past that is too often overlooked.”

-Paul de Barros, The Seattle Times, Down Beat

"What is the appeal of a collection like this to contemporary jazz fans? For Seattle-based jazz fans, it’s an uncovered revelation; for Dixieland revivalists, it’s forgotten repertoire refreshed; for everyone else, a release like this is a reminder that early jazz history is not the single narrative so well documented on early recordings. Every city, no doubt, has their own version of a Frank Waldron. Does it change the arc of jazz history? No; Louis Armstrong is in no danger of having his position usurped. It does however, broaden the conversation, and illuminate the way jazz moved through American pop culture in the 1920s. In a way, Waldron’s music, given new life by Greg Ruby and The Rhythm Runners, was on the front line of the jazz revolution. He stands in for all the local musicians across the country who heard the great innovators as they passed through their city, absorbing those new sounds into their own styles. In doing so, they helped create a national audience for “hot jazz,” one that was hungry for new dance music for a new era."

—Eric Hofbauer, Burning Ambulance

https://gregrubymusic.com/projects/frank-d-waldron-project/

Tracklist

1.	Low Down	3:41

2.	Climb Them Walls	4:08

3.	Go Get It	3:44

4.	Valse Hawthorne	4:21

5.	Pretty Doll	3:07

6.	It's Easy	3:06

7.	With Pep	2:37

8.	Valse Marguerite	4:02

9.	The Kaiser's Got the Blues (Since Uncle Sam Stepped In)	3:33

10.	That's It	3:25

11.	Valse Queen Ann	6:24

Credits

released October 25, 2017

Musicians:

Greg Ruby - guitar & six-string banjo
Dennis Lichtman - clarinet & mandolin
Gordon Au - trumpet
Charlie Halloran - trombone
Cassidy Holden - bass
Julian MacDonough - drums

Special guest - Mike Marshall - mandolin

Recorded at AVAST! studios by Adam Burd, Seattle, WA
Mixed by Adam Burd
Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering, Seattle, WA
Artwork by Mike McDevitt

License