Sidney Bechet

[Niko]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

Just wait. It will happen. And when it happens, it will be insufferable. 

I have quite a few records I'll unload when it happens, all bought for less than 10% of the current price of a new LP (which suggests that as an investment those records didn't do too well between the time of their creation and now)...I mean: some of those old-time jazz records I really like a lot... but others I am only keeping because no shop will take them... a few are so awful I'll probably give them away for free in the near future (this one for instance had a *1/2 review in Downbeat for a reason when it appeared in the late 60s). 

Back on topic: I also have a few Bechet records but I don't really get him... will not buy additional ones (except if I see the one with Solal...) Regarding that boxset bargain, I guess what helps is when a record is mistaken for a book... 

[Big Beat Steve]

My thoughts exactly at first about having mistaken that box set for a book. BUT - the contents of the CDs figure PROMINENTLY on the BACK of the (outer) case. So hard to miss ...

As for that LP with the 1 1/2* review in DB in 1969 that you linked (Jimmy O'Bryant's Washboard Wonders on Biograph), the reviewer may have had a reason indeed. But was this a valid one over time?
Not that I would claim these bands produced superior art, and I'd never pay full price for this one either (though in a similar vein I've got one or two Washboard Rhythm Kings LPs on my search list right now). But tastes differ and one man's meat is another man's poison, and isn't it strange that subsequent reissue labels built a lot of their catalog on this kind of early recordings, leaving no reissue stone unturned (notably Document and RST)? Which is bound to bring some dross to the surface too.
These labels cater(ed) to a niche clientele - but one that exists (or existed) and that the reviewer either didn't get (nor the music itself) or, what is more likely IMO, such recordings just were not in the spirit of the time and place that the review appeared. Across all styles of jazz it sometimes is amazing how assessments of recordings differ either between different reviewers in different mags or between the time the record was new (when it was reviewed in DB, for instance) and when it was reissued much later (with a review in the All Music Guide, for instance).

Re-Bechet and not getting him, I hear you ... I must admit Sidney Bechet is one of those who I usually take in moderate doses. I really depends on my mood; there are days when I just find his tone too strident and piercing after a while. But with this particular box fidelity really is so excellent that, at least if taken in smaller instalments, you cannot help feeling that Becher really ROCKS at these concerts!
Likely more so than as per the title of this LP released in the mid-60s ...
https://www.discogs.com/de/master/1500303-Sidney-Bechet-Rocking/image/SW1hZ2U6MzE0Mzg1NDE=
... where Fontana blatantly tried to cash in on the "Rocking" tag (there were other jazz reissues in that "Rocking!" series at the time IIRC). I bought this one mostly for that cover real cheap a couple of years ago - it is fun to listen to (reissues from 1947-49) but not essential.  And when I bow out one day, records like this might as well go without netting my heirs anything to speak of too.

Edited 9 hours ago by Big Beat Steve

[Rabshakeh]

I do wish that there were more places to get information on this sort of music past 1939. There are hardly any guides treating it as anything other than a footnote. 

[Big Beat Steve]

As for "past 1939", you mean more or less recent TEXT sources that deal with the REVIVAL jazz era of what stylistically is termed "oldtime jazz" or "classic jazz"? I.e. in the case of the USA, covering the 40s and 50s in particular, and whatever classic jazz revival remained later (Bob Wilber, e.g.)?
And I gues many would want to distinguish between the old heroes carrying on for as long as they lived (Edmond Hall, De Paris brothers etc., Eddie Condon too) and the next generation (Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey, Pete Fountain and whoever else).

And not to be mixed up with the entire (European) "Trad jazz" scene that we had discussed in an earlier thread.

There ARE sources on the Revival side of jazz after 1940-45, but they are scattered and hard to summarize in an efficient way. I am not familiar with too many books or sites on that subject but whatever I thought of right now raises more questions than it has answers on "what else" there also should be.

 

[Rabshakeh]

30 minutes ago, Big Beat Steve said:

As for "past 1939", you mean more or less recent TEXT sources that deal with the REVIVAL jazz era of what stylistically is termed "oldtime jazz" or "classic jazz"? I.e. in the case of the USA, covering the 40s and 50s in particular, and whatever classic jazz revival remained later (Bob Wilber, e.g.)?
And I gues many would want to distinguish between the old heroes carrying on for as long as they lived (Edmond Hall, De Paris brothers etc., Eddie Condon too) and the next generation (Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey, Pete Fountain and whoever else).

And not to be mixed up with the entire (European) "Trad jazz" scene that we had discussed in an earlier thread.

There ARE sources on the Revival side of jazz after 1940-45, but they are scattered and hard to summarize in an efficient way. I am not familiar with too many books or sites on that subject but whatever I thought of right now raises more questions than it has answers on "what else" there also should be.

I mean any of it, really. There's a bit more text out there on "trad jazz" in the UK than the very various US scenes. But hardly much even there.

[JSngry]

Sidney Bechet was a SERIOUSLY BAD MAN until his last note.  

End of story.

 

[Big Beat Steve]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

I mean any of it, really. There's a bit more text out there on "trad jazz" in the UK than the very various US scenes. But hardly much even there.

A shot in the dark ... but as for websites to start with, how about checking out the websites linked on this site?

http://www.harlem-fuss.com/links.html

I haven't checked all of them (not nearly) but those I have seen of course aren't dedicated exclusively to classic or oldtime jazz but many give fair coverage of artists from that period.
E.g. jazzArcheology.com
or
www.thereisjazzbeforetrane.blogspot.com
(I think our forumist EKE BBB is behind this - and the name of this blog is an oh so true statement in itself that needs to be driven home to many, many present-day jazz listeners for sure - not on this forum but very much so in general out there ...)

[kh1958]

The best sources for Traditional New Orleans Jazz (the correct name) are right below:

www.jazzology.com

www.louisianamusicfactory.com

There isn't much written commentary on the subject, you just have to listen.

Edited 5 hours ago by kh1958

[Rabshakeh]

28 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

 

28 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

There isn't much written commentary on the subject, you just have to listen.

I'm most interested in the albums. What I want most is a source that directs me towards the major records that caused a splash in this closed community.