... if "Play It Red" is indeed a cornet/trumpet feature written for Red Nichols, then what would the Goldkette arrangement have sounded like?
After all, who was the Goldkette band's featured cornet soloist? Hmmm...
I think this is a much more interesting possibility for Bixophiles, than Sudhalter's hypothesis of a hot instrumental featuring Steve Brown's slap-bass solos.
Was it possible that Bix had difficulty with the melody? I'm sure his improvisations would have been fascinating, but as a cornet player myself, who has tried to struggle through Nichols specialties like "Plenty Off Center," I can attest to the fact that those kinds of tunes are extremely challenging, much more so than melody lines from standard pop tunes of the '20's. Anyway, one has to wonder exactly why Victor rejected this tune.
- Mike Laprarie
PS Here is the record label of the Little Ramblers version.
This message has been edited by ahaim on Jun 17, 2009 10:54 AM
![[linked image]](http://bixbeiderbecke.com/playitred.jpg)