More Take 5 With St. James Infirmary.

This is a second short playlist of versions of the classic American song, "St. James Infirmary," to follow up on the initial list presented last Saturday.

We start with a version from George E. Lee & His Orchestra. Lee was the older brother of Julia Lee who became quite popular as a pianist and vocalist.

One of the great New Orleans trumpeters to come out of New Orleans after Louis Armstrong, Henry 'Red' Allen performed this song while touring England with the Alex Welsh band. Incidentally, Allen was with King Oliver's Band when this was recorded in 1930 under Oliver's name.

There have been so many great recordings from this from the likes of Eric Burdon, Lou Rawls, and Van Morrison. In this vein we have Tom Jones and Rhiannon Giddens singing it.

Next up is the great James Booker.

There are so many other choices I could have chosen including solo acoustic renditions from Josh White Snooks Eaglin,  Doc Watson or Dave Van Ronk. Other versions I might have selected include those Trombone Shorty at the White House, various Brass Bands, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Dee Dee Bridgewater, or Cassandra Wilson. To end this playlist though I have selected Jon Batiste & Stay Human from the 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.