Really the Blues

Read About This Recording

Sidney Bechet was one of the first major jazz musicians. A virtuoso with a sound of his own, Bechet was born in New Orleans, played clarinet from the time he was a young child, and was touring Europe as early as 1918. While in England, he bought a soprano sax and, from then on, it became his main instrument although he continued doubling on clarinet. Bechet's powerful solo style, which included a wide but perfectly controlled vibrato, made him a major force and he played the soprano with the ferocity and power of a trumpet. Later in life, he became a major celebrity in France after he permanently moved overseas in 1949.

Really The Blues has many of the highlights from Bechet's recordings of 1932-41. He is featured on two numbers (including an explosive version of Maple Leaf Rag) with his New Orleans Feetwarmers in 1932 and on a pair of songs apiece with trumpeter Tommy Ladnier, Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong in addition to 17 titles as a leader. Among the many highlights are Really The Blues, Indian Summer, China Boy, Nobody Knows The Way I Feel Dis Mornin', the haunting Egyptian Fantasy and The Mooche. Such sidemen as cornetist Muggsy Spanier, trumpeter Sidney DeParis and pianist Earl Hines make notable appearances but Bechet is the main star throughout. On The Shiek Of Araby, he made history by pioneering overdubbing, playing clarinet, alto, tenor, piano, bass and drums.

Really The Blues is an excellent single-disc introduction to the remarkable Sidney Bechet.

-Scott Yanow

Contents

Imported from Europe!

Lay Your Racket; Maple Leaf Rag; Really the Blues; When You and I Were Young, Maggie; High Society; I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say; Indian Summer; Preachin' Blues; Four or Five Times; China Boy; 2.19 Blues; Perdido Street Blues; Wild Man Blues; Nobody Knows the Way I Feel Dis Mornin'; Blues in Thirds; Stompy Jones; Muskrat Ramble; Egyptian Fantasy; Baby Won't You Please Come Home?; The Sheik of Araby; (When It's) Sleepy Time Down South; I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll; Texas Moaner; Strange Fruit; The Mooche.

Sidney Bechet, Clarinet/Soprano Sax/Tenor Sax/Piano/Bass/Drums; Tommy Ladnier, Sidney de Paris, Henry Levine, Henry Allen, Gus Aitken, Charlie Shavers, Henry Goodwin, Trumpets; Louis Armstrong, Trumpet/Vocals; Muggsy Spanier, Rex Stewart, Cornets; Teddy Nixon, Claude Jones, Sandy Williams, Jack Epstein, J.C. Higginbottom, Vic Dickenson, Trombones; Mezz Mezzrow, Clarinet/Tenor Sax; Albert Nicholas, Alfie Evans, Clarinets; Happy Cauldwell, Rudolph Adler, Lem Johnson, Tenor Saxes; Henry Duncan, Cliff Jackson, Sonny White, Luis Russell, Earl Hines, Mario Janarro, James Tolliver, Willie The Lion Smith, Don Donaldson, Pianos; Jelly Roll Morton, Piano/Vocals; Elmer James, Wellman Braud, John Lindsay, Harry Patent, Ernest Williamson, Basses; Wilson Myers, Bass/Vocals; Teddy Bunn, Lawrence Lucie, Charlie Howard, Carmen Mastren, Bernard Addison, Tony Colucci, Everett Barksdale, Guitars; Morris Morland, Manzie Johnson, Zutty Singleton, Kenny Clarke, Sid Catlett, Baby Dodds, J.C. Heard, Arthur Herbert, Manzie Johnson, Drums; Billy Maxey, Vocals; Sidney Bechet's New Orleans Feet Warmers; Tommy Ladnier's Orchestra; Jelly Roll Morton's New Orleans Jazzmen; Bechet-Spanier Big Four; Louis Armstrong's Orchestra; Dr. Henry Levine's Barefoot Dixieland Philharmonic; Sidney Bechet's One-Man Band.