“The Last Testament of a Great New Orleans Jazzman” Album Review

Album: The Last Testament of a Great New Orleans Jazzman

Artist: Bunk Johnson

Year: 1950

Genre: Dixieland, Jazz

Grade: A

Recorded at Carnegie Hall in December of 1947, this album, as the title suggests, is the last testament of a great New Orleans jazzman. The legendary Bunk Johnson would die from a stroke one year later. He was 69 years old. Although this casts a dour mood over the proceedings, The Last Testament of a New Orleans Jazzman is still a joyous celebration of high-stepping Dixieland and primitive ragtime blues.

An influence upon a young Louis Armstrong, Bunk Johnson was one of jazz music’s original inventors in the early 1900s. He played trumpet throughout Louisiana until he got his teeth knocked out in 1931, prompting an early retirement. A critical re-appraisal by the likes of Armstrong and Sidney Bechet helped revive Johnson’s career, and his comeback coincided with the late-’40s Dixieland Revival. 

The Last Testament is beautiful jazz nostalgia, and Johnson remains true to his original essence — an authentic New Orleans sound circa 1908. But the album is far more than a curious novelty or historical artifact: Bunk’s band plays these tunes with tremendous fervor and passion, evoking the era of Jelly Roll Morton, and Bunk himself delivers a tremendous performance on trumpet, with an emphasis on subtle melody and smooth syncopation.

Johnson’s brand of jazz was great in the 1910s, and it still sounds great in 1950. One of the year’s best albums.

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Accolades

• Top 10 Albums of 1950 — #4