We’re delving here into the Chicago South Side of the 1930s, these informal if rough-sounding cuts destined for the African-American population and pretty typical of the genre. At their centre is trombonist Roy Palmer (1892-1963), a New Orleans man who played with the best and then settled in Chicago. Having worked with King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton and recorded with Johnny Dodds, he largely disappeared from view working in factories and teaching on the side, the trombone case permanently closed.

Nevertheless, there had been a flurry of recordings under the State Street Ramblers heading in 1932 and others by the Memphis Night Hawks and then a gap until 1936, when the band morphed into the Chicago Rhythm Kings. In assembling these 25 varied tracks, mostly recorded in New York rather than Chicago at the behest of Vocalion, Upbeat added a sub-title citing Palmer as: ‘The Almost Forgotten New Orleans Hot Trombonist’, this echoing the view of authorities like Bill Russell that Palmer was the equal of Kid Ory, if he’d only had the breaks and determination.

On this evidence, he was a master of the tailgate style, with good control, ‘a pillar of gruff strength’ in Chris Hillman's words, good at keeping these swingy, often jovial, tracks on the go. He's much aided by romping piano from Blythe and Melrose, the washboard rhythm always danceable, the whole atmosphere redolent of a kind of insouciant gaiety. Discographically confused it may be, but this disc is worthwhile as a window into a long-gone world.