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Jazz Train / O.L.C. on CD

The Jazz Train was "A Musical Dedicated to the Negro People", but was not a conventional book musical and more akin to an elaborate cabaret. The "train" was made up of "coaches", each one representing a different period or stage in the evolution of black American popular music as seen through the eyes of Mervyn Nelson, the director and devisor of the show. It transferred from New York (where it had been seen in a night-club) into London's Piccadilly Theatre in April 1955 introducing the great Bertice Reading to British audiences singing the tale of Frankie and Johnny and impersonating Bessie Smith. Energy and excitement abounded in the Jazz Train and it was not a show for those wanting a quiet night out. To complement the six tracks recorded from the Jazz Train the CD continues with some unusual Bertice Reading songs, and performances by other black singers, who, like Bertice, found their careers blossomed in Britain.