Dixie Jubilee Singers, 1924-1928 + Bryant’s Jubilee Quartette/Quintet, 1931 / Document CD-5438

Description

Document Records Compact Disc-CDDOC5438

24 tracks, 66 min., Several groups used the name “Dixie Jubilee Singers,” so the 20 titles here may represent one group with an ever-changing lineup or various entirely different groups or something in between. (Gospel researcher Doug Seroff believes the 2 cuts on Regal, included here, are in fact the Birmingham Jubilee Singers.) That Eva Jessye appears with a mixed quartet on the 1925 session seems certain. Her style, harking back to vocal mannerisms popular in the 19th century, may sound too operatic for fans of the more soulful sound. Fully half the tracks are (essentially) mixed quartets. The disc closes with the 4 remaining titles of Bryant’s Jubilee Quartet’s 1931 session, including two takes of Didn’t It Rain, This Wicked Race and I’ll Be Satisfied.