With the biographical entries, we've just about reached an important milestone in Willie Humphrey's career, so we'll take a short detour to talk about it. In May, 1974, at the age of 73, Willie finally recorded an album under his own name for the first time.
The Smoky Mary record label was named after the train that ran from New Orleans to the resort of Milneburg, on the shore of Lake Pontchatrain north of the city. When the talented trombonist and banjoist Frank Demond moved to New Orleans for good in 1973, he used some of the money he had made in the construction business to record the city's veteran jazz musicians and issue the results as LPs on Smoky Mary. Willie Humphrey was one of the first of these veterans he recorded, and the New Orleans Clarinet album was soon issued as Humphrey's debut as leader of a recording session.
It was worth the wait. Humphrey is accompanied by a rhythm section only - Sing Miller on piano, Demond on banjo, and veterans James Prevost on bass and Cie Frazier on drums. The recording captures Willie's unique clarinet sound beautifully, and the absence of any other horns allows the clarinet plenty of room. Most of the tracks have vocals, though, and there is much tasty interaction as the clarinet provides obligatos to the vocals of Joseph "Kid Twat" Butler and Sing Miller. Willie also contributes three vocals himself, all on songs he had become associated with: "Little Liza Jane," "Bourbon Street Parade," and "Bill Bailey." Butler's three vocals deserve special mention; by this date his vocal delivery had evolved to include bizarre, stream-of-consciousness narrations with only questionable relevance to the original lyrics. Butler's "Pennies From Heaven" somehow turns into a dissertation on the agricultural and economic implications of the migration from country to city. (Incidentally, Butler's possibly obscene nickname stems from the appearance of the part in his hair when he was a young man.)
In some ways this is a particularly self-effacing album. Although Willie plays constantly, setting up the melodies and accompanying the vocals, many of the selections don't feature clarinet solos. Humphrey's ensemble playing, though, is excellent throughout; his obligato to Miller's vocal on "Amen" is particularly moving. Of his solos, that on "Bourbon Street Parade" is outstanding in its balance of daring and careful construction. On "Oh, How I Miss You Tonight," Willie's solo is practically a lesson on the creative exposition of a popular melody in jazz. It's almost if he is combining the traditional roles of the clarinet and trumpet in traditional jazz - he plays fairly straight melodic phrases which he answers himself with elegant filigrees.
The session was later licensed to the Mardi Gras label, which released many of the tracks on CD. You can sample half of the original album below - although I would urge those lucky enough to have a turntable to seek out the original Smoky Mary LP. For one thing, the CD doesn't have the 1973 version of "China Boy." After the tune is finished, Willie is heard to say, "I about did my best on that one." He did, and those words also apply to the entire album.
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