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This is the latest in Acrobats continuing series of releases of material from the Ackerman Collection, an archive of largely unreleased jazz recordings held at Stanford University, which has already spawned a number of highly collectible gems. This collection comprises the four complete half-hour radio broadcasts, of which two are completely unreleased in any form, made in April and May 1953 by the great cornettist, trumpeter and bandleader Muggsy Spanier during his four-week season at Doc Doughertys Club Hangover in San Francisco, which was a hotbed of the New Orleans revival in the city at that time. Every Saturday, radio KCBS in San Francisco took a live feed from the Club, and the tapes were retained by the programmes announcer. The shows also include unique intermission piano performances by the legendary Meade Lux Lewis and his trio, making this a very special package. The recording quality is excellent, admirably capturing the uninhibited nature of the performances by Nichols and his finely-honed band. Spanier came to prominence in Chicago in the 20s as a powerful exponent of the trumpet and cornet, rivalling Bix Beiderbecke, and his Ragtime Band of 1939 made a series of recordings which helped define the repertoire of the Dixieland revival that was to come. Playing his trademark large bore cornet, Spanier became a key figure in that revival, of which these recordings were a part. It is a fine showcase for Spaniers straightforward and uncomplicated style around which the finely-honed band, most of whom had been playing together for three years, improvise in uninhibited fashion.
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