Less jumbled than Living Era's Hot Trumpets compilation, Trombones on Parade (1927-1947) comes a bit closer to achieving a logical stylistic progression from early hot jazz through the heyday of swing to the full-grown majesty of bebop. Incongruities do arise, however, as when Juan Tizol's marvelously modern "Keb-Lah" (recorded in 1946 for the Keynote label) is wedged between a pair of staunch old-fashioned numbers by Miff Mole and Georg Brunis. This briefly disrupts the apparent concept of the compilation as a retrospective that traces the stylistic evolution of jazz trombone during the first half of the 20th century. Although the 1920s are somewhat under-represented here, the selection of trombonists presented on this one disc is amazing. Kid Ory, the gutsiest member of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, represents the oldest of the old guard. Valve trombonist Brad Gowans is heard in a rare performance with Rosy McHargue & the Memphis Five, and Jack Teagarden resounds in the company of Charles LaVere & His Chicago Loopers. Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey sound better than ever when serving as soloists rather than mere chaperones for puerile vocalists. Three outstanding trombonists associated with Duke Ellington -- Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Lawrence Brown, and Tyree Glenn -- leave only Quentin "Butter" Jackson out of the picture. Vic Dickenson and Sandy Williams show up as members of Sidney Bechet's New Orleans Feetwarmers; J.C. Higginbotham sits in with Kansas City piano man Sammy Price; Dicky Wells jumps with the Kansas City Six; Trummy Young is heard with the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra; and Benny Morton leads his Blue Note All-Stars, a fabulous team including Barney Bigard and Ben Webster. Commendably, the producers of this compilation included examples from two artists who are perhaps less famous than the rest of the pack: the tragically short-lived Jack Jenney and Scottish trombonist George Chisholm. Closing the album with the showy "Sliphorn Outing," Benny Morton's Trombone Choir was a decision obviously based upon the fact that four trombones are sounding at once rather than any notions of real modernity, a collective state of mind already fully realized and demonstrated here by Bill Harris, Kai Winding, and J.J. Johnson. Anyone even remotely interested in the history of jazz trombone needs to consider absorbing this excellent core sample of vintage stomps and swing.