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.
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1 I Got a Train/Spiritual Car/Plantation Car
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2 Holy Roller Car/Minstrel Car
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3 Frankie & Johnny
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4 Bessie Smith Blues
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5 Ev'rything Is Rhythm/Calypso: Manman la Greve Barre Moin/Basin Street Lover
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6 Finale (There's No Journey's End to My Train)
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7 My One Sin (In Life) (Bonus Track)
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8 Everybody's Somebody's Fool (Bonus Track)
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9 I'm Alone (Bonus Track)
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10 Tears of Joy (Bonus Track)
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11 Ain't Misbehavin' (Bonus Track)
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12 Beale Street Blues (Bonus Track)
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13 Georgia on My Mind (Bonus Track)
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14 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (Bonus Track)
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15 Alibis (Bonus Track)
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16 December Road (Bonus Track)
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17 Hold Me (Bonus Track)
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18 Until (Bonus Track)
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19 Mazel Tov (Bonus Track)
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20 Ç a Va, Ç a Va! (Bonus Track)
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21 Munasterio E Santa Chiara (Bonus Track)
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22 Mon Che Ri (Bonus Track)
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23 Trois Faibles Femmes (Bonus Track)
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24 C'est Marveilleux (Bonus Track)
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25 Basin Street Blues (Bonus Track)
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26 's Wonderful (Bonus Track)
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.
