Bobby Hackett is quoted in the liner notes, saying that in the mid-1930s the up-and-coming Page was signed to an agency contract by Louis Armstrong’s manager, just in order to control the competition. You can see why he was worried because Page, seven years younger than Armstrong, had the same power in his instrumental work and was equally engaging with his vocalising. The two earliest tracks, done while a member of the Page and Moten bands before moving to New York, show him on trumpet, as do several later sideman appearances which, in addition to the Louis touches, also reveal his skill at Ellington-style plunger-muted growling. Four of the many items under his own name, including the compilation’s title-track, date from the late-1930s period when – like so many other jazzers – he was suddenly lumbered with leading his own big-band, but he’s actually better featured on two hit-parade successes from a 1941 stint with Artie Shaw (incidentally, the same year that Cootie Williams went with Benny Goodman and Roy Eldridge likewise with Gene Krupa).

Doubtless it was his bluesy vocals that were supposed to sell him to a wider public and, while there are only 16 here out of 48 tracks, you can see their appeal although, on balance, they’re probably less endearing than Armstrong’s. But the trumpet work, especially after his early days, is not as Louis-influenced as you’d expect, and is clearly dominated by a basic blues feeling. For that reason, there’s a lot of proto-R&B in the many mid-1940s tracks and, for fans of the period, there are great solos by the names in the partial listing above, including virtuosic examples of early Earl Bostic. It’s worth noting for collectors that two tracks which were unissued at the time appeared, along with a couple of other unissued tracks, on a 2001 Columbia compilation called Jump For Joy.