Love the vocals
Those of us of a certain age remember seeing this strange white-suited man on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE back in the late 70s/early 80s strumming along while singing in his own inimitable style classic rags. Redbone's BRANCH TO BRANCH is filled with great cuts, not all of them traditional folk/ragtime tunes. Hearing Redbone wail on "When You Wish Upon a Star" will banish thoughts of Jiminy Cricket from your mind, and "Seduced" ("I wanna be seduced/I want a woman to talk to me suggestively") deserves more attention than it's had over the years. Great voice, great instrumentals, great album.

Leon is always great.
Leon is always a treat ... play some of his music when you want to have a happy lazy day.
For the person who wanted the lyrics to prairie lullaby, I found these on the internet and believe they are correct:
Shadows slowly creeping, down the prairie trail. Everything is sleeping, all but the nightingale.
Soon the moon will be climbing across the blue, blue sky, night winds slow and haunting.
This prairie lullaby.
Tumble to bed, my child, my little old sleepy head, the stars are in the sky.
Now that your prayers are said, my little old sleepy head to this prairie lullaby.
Saddle up your ponies, to sail with you, lead you down a trail of dreams.
Stumble to bed, my child, my little old sleepy head, to this prairie lullaby.
Saddle up your ponies to sail with you, lead you down a trail of dreams.
Now that your prayers are said, you can get to bed, to this prairie lullaby.

great old time music by a real martian
Leon Redbone is a true martian in the world of music.I even don't know about his age,although I listen to him for some 20 years.Every record by Leon is a gem,almost his early recordings in which he plays a lot of guitar; and when Leon plays guitar, he's truly amazing, somewhere between Blind Blake and Joseph Spence.There are great tunes in this record,a beautiful lullaby ("prairie lullaby"),tributes to Jelly Roll Morton ("Te-na-na" and the marvelous "why",to tunes recorded by Jelly Roll in his 1940 session,thelast he ever made),a tribute to Blind Blake too ("step it up and go"); let's say that Leon may be the guy that was the closer ever to Blind Blake;he can play outstanding things like Blind Blake did.Redbone's smoky voice is amazing in every tune.There is also a marvelous "extra blues",and a salute to the great Ukulele Ike,"when you wish upon a star".Backing Leon, you can listen to Dr John,Grady Tate,Bob Cranshaw and Ed Polcer.A great trip back to the pre-war years.

One of a kind!
Leon is fabulous! Great musicians too. Jack Maheu makes it for me.

Check out the Salt City Six and Dukes of Dixieland if you don't believe me!

This, comming from a tuba player!

However, the recording engineer has no clue whatsoever! A VERY poor recording for contemporary standards. I would bet that even the master tape couldn't be cleaned up. Very shoddy work here! I could do beter with a dixie cup and a string to a scully lathe burning hot direct to platten.

If you are an audiophile, run away! If you have an unconditional love for jazz, go for it!

This could/should have been recorded better!

Greg Kalkhoff (gkalkhof@execpc.com)

Great.
Splendid work of listening pleasure