Sidney Bechet recommendations

[bluesbro]

All I have in my collection is the Ken Burns compilation. I was listening to this yesterday and was blown away by the raw power of this guy.

Where to go next? I want to start with what would be considered the essential. From the Ken Burns comp, I enjoyed more the late 40s tracks.

Edited November 12, 2008 by bluesbro

[AllenLowe]

personally I love the late 1930s, early 1940s Victors - and particularly the ones with Ladnier, whom I believe is one of the greats -

[jazzbo]

Yes, all the RCAs are great. And the Blue Notes. Almost all Bechet is uniformly high level. Get whatever Blue Notes are in print. . . and the Mosaic Select is a good batch of sides as well.

[BruceH]

If you can find the Mosaic Complete Blue Note box used for a reasonable price, of course, that's a good way to go....

[Cliff Englewood]

Ditto on the Blue Notes, I have these two and they are excellent;

[Hot Ptah]

If you are into vinyl, the Blue Notes "Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2" albums are great.

[kh1958]

I like the quartet recording with Martial Solal alot also.

[Chuck Nessa]

I am of the opinion that Bechet deserves equal billing with Armstrong for developing/transforming the jazz solo concept. He lost out (pr wise) for a number of reasons but he was a supreme master. I will buy almost anything with his solo on it. The Victors would be first choice to get a feel for his style at a peak. Bechet (from 1923 until his death) was an unrecognized influence.

[Larry Kart]

I am of the opinion that Bechet deserves equal billing with Armstrong for developing/transforming the jazz solo concept. He lost out (pr wise) for a number of reasons but he was a supreme master. I will buy almost anything with his solo on it. The Victors would be first choice to get a feel for his style at a peak. Bechet (from 1923 until his death) was an unrecognized influence.

The "Texas Moaner"/"Cake Walking Babies" dates from 1924/25, with both Bechet and Armstrong, suggest that Bechet was then further along than Armstrong was rhythmically -- "further along" not because it was a horse race but because they were working along pretty similar lines.

[Chuck Nessa]

I am of the opinion that Bechet deserves equal billing with Armstrong for developing/transforming the jazz solo concept. He lost out (pr wise) for a number of reasons but he was a supreme master. I will buy almost anything with his solo on it. The Victors would be first choice to get a feel for his style at a peak. Bechet (from 1923 until his death) was an unrecognized influence.

The "Texas Moaner"/"Cake Walking Babies" dates from 1924/25, with both Bechet and Armstrong, suggest that Bechet was then further along than Armstrong was rhythmically.

Agreed.

[J.A.W.]

I am of the opinion that Bechet deserves equal billing with Armstrong for developing/transforming the jazz solo concept. He lost out (pr wise) for a number of reasons but he was a supreme master. I will buy almost anything with his solo on it. The Victors would be first choice to get a feel for his style at a peak. Bechet (from 1923 until his death) was an unrecognized influence.

Agreed.

[thomastreichler]

I strongly recommend the Bechet / Spanier Big Four sessions; they are on the Mosaic H.R.S. box set and on this one:

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

The Victors would be first choice to get a feel for his style at a peak.

What releases are there of the Victors, please Chuck?

MG

[Big Beat Steve]

E.g. the vinyl albums from the RCA "Black and White" series (released in the 70s/80s) that might/should still be around in 2nd hand record bins (wherever you still have these ).

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

E.g. the vinyl albums from the RCA "Black and White" series (released in the 70s/80s) that might/should still be around in 2nd hand record bins (wherever you still have these ).

Not in my neck of the woods. I was thinking about CD issues, actually.

Is there something like a Proper box that covers these recordings?

MG

[jazzbo]

They are getting hard to find in the US. There was an early cd four disc (or was it three? can't check right now) set on RCA of all the masters, and then RCA US also put out the series in the "Black and White" cd series that included the alternates. This material also showed up in the excellent French "Masters of Jazz" series of complete Bechet.

There's probably a Proper set that includes some of this. . . I have an aversion to Proper and haven't paid attention.

[Sundog]

They are getting hard to find in the US. There was an early cd four disc (or was it three? can't check right now)

Sidney Bechet The Victor Session Master Takes 1932-43.

That was a 3 disc set produced in 1990. Good set.

[jazzbo]

Thank, yes, very good set!

[bluesbro]

I found the RCA Master takes and also a 3CD set from Andorra with the complete blue note master takes.

Cant afford the Mosaic ...

[jostber]

I strongly recommend the Bechet / Spanier Big Four sessions; they are on the Mosaic H.R.S. box set and on this one:

Some of my favourite music ever!

[jostber]

This is also a great one:

[J.A.W.]

As I said earlier I fully agree with Chuck that Bechet "deserves equal billing with Armstrong for developing/transforming the jazz solo concept", but after so many years I still find Bechet's vibrato very hard to listen to... I can't get used to it. My loss, I know

Edited November 13, 2008 by J.A.W.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I like Bechet's sound a lot. To me it feels a lot like Earl Bostic's.

MG

[kh1958]

Here's a fine Bechet CD on the Jazz in Paris series, for only $4.99.

http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=gwr...5%26amp%3By%3D9

[J.A.W.]

I like Bechet's sound a lot. To me it feels a lot like Earl Bostic's.

MG

As someone once said to me, you either love it or hate it, there's nothing in between