All the Cats Join In is a song written by Ray Gilbert, Eddie Sauter and Alec Wilder, and first recorded by Benny Goodman. It later was a track on an LP with the same title by trumpeter Buck Clayton.
It is the last of five jam session albums released by Clayton (and produced by George Avakian at Columbia Studios) between 1954 and 1956 that Dennis Davis of Hi-Fi+ magazine as Clayton's "greatest recorded legacy".
Benny Goodman
Curiously, Goodman recorded this song three times. The first-released version, released after the ASCAP boycott of 1944–1948, followed a version which was only put out later.
The third recording was for a segment of the 1946 Walt Disney film Make Mine Music.
Clayton record
The record album was subtitled 25 Star Jazzmen in a Buck Clayton Jam Session. It was recorded between 1953 and 1956 and released by Columbia.Edwards, D., Callahan, M., Watts, R. and Eyries, P. Columbia Main Series, Part 4: CL 800–899 (1955–1956), accessed June 28, 2017Enciclopedia del Jazz: Buck Clayton accessed June 30, 2017
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated "Everyone plays at least up to their usual high level and the riffing behind some of the solos really generates a lot of excitement".
Track listing "All The Cats Join In" (Alec Wilder, Eddie Sauter, Ray Gilbert) – 7:14 "Out of Nowhere" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman) – 7:03 "Don't You Miss Your Baby" (Count Basie, Eddie Durham, Jimmy Rushing) – 6:30 "Lean Baby" (Billy May, Roy Alfred) – 8:20 "Blue Lou" (Edgar Sampson, Irving Mills) – 10:04 Recorded in NYC on December 16, 1953 (track 4), March 15, 1955 (tracks 2 & 5) and March 5, 1956 (tracks 1 & 3)
Personnel Buck Clayton – trumpet Billy Butterfield (tracks 1 & 3), Joe Newman (track 4) – trumpet Ruby Braff – cornet (tracks 1 & 3) Henderson Chambers (track 4), Bennie Green (tracks 2 & 5), Urbie Green (track 4), Dicky Harris (tracks 2 & 5), J. C. Higginbotham (tracks 1 & 3) – trombone Tyree Glenn – trombone, vibraphone (track 1) Lem Davis – alto saxophone (track 4) Julian Dash (tracks 1, 3 & 4), Coleman Hawkins (tracks 1–3 & 5), Buddy Tate (tracks 2 & 5) – tenor saxophone Charles Fowlkes – baritone saxophone (track 4) Sir Charles Thompson – piano, celeste (track 4) Ken Kersey (tracks 1 & 3), Al Waslohn (tracks 2 & 5) – piano Steve Jordan (tracks 1–3 & 5), Freddie Green (track 4) – guitar Milt Hinton (tracks 2 & 5), Walter Page (tracks 1, 3 & 4) – bass Bobby Donaldson (tracks 1 & 3), Jo Jones (tracks 2, 4 & 5) – drums
References