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Sidney Bechet - Ken Burns Jazz Series: Sidney Bechet (1947)

Track listing:
  1. Wild Cat Blues Clarence Williams' Blue Five 3:00
  2. Texas Moaner Blues Clarence Williams' Blue Five 3:11
  3. Mandy, Make Up Your Mind Clarence Williams' Blue Five 3:11
  4. I'm A Little Blackbird Clarence Williams' Blue Five 3:19
  5. The Basement Blues Noble Sissle and His Orchestra 3:18
  6. Shag New Orleans Feetwarmers 3:05
  7. Polka Dot Stomp Noble Sissle and His International Orchestra 2:52
  8. Okey-Dokey Noble Sissle's Swingsters 2:56
  9. Characteristic Blues Noble Sissle's Swingsters 2:58
  10. Dear Old Southland Noble Sissle and His Orchestra 3:03
  11. Blackstick Sidney "Pops" Bechet with Noble Sissle's Swingsters 3:11
  12. Viper Mad Sidney "Pops" Bechet with Noble Sissle's Swingsters 3:05
  13. Chant In The Night Sidney Bechet & His Orchestra 2:25
  14. Jungle Drums Sidney Bechet & His Orchestra 2:30
  15. Summertime 4:14
  16. Sweet Lorraine Bechet-Spanier Big Four 4:20
  17. Shake It And Break It Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers 2:55
  18. Egyptian Fantasy Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers 3:02
  19. Blue Horizon Sidney Bechet And His Blue Note Jazz Men 4:30
  20. Love For Sale Sidney Bechet Quartet 5:16

Notes

With cooperation from the Verve and Columbia Legacy catalogs, the Ken Burns Jazz series on CD individually spotlights the musical excellence of 22 jazz originators whose careers and influence are explored in Burns' PBS documentary Jazz. This disc provides an enjoyable introduction to Sidney Bechet, one of the early jazz masters of Dixieland and New Orleans clarinet and soprano saxophone. The 20 tracks on Ken Burns Jazz highlight Bechet's work from 1923 through 1947 with Clarence Williams' Blue Five, Noble Sissle & His Orchestra, and the Spanier-Bechet Big Four. While Bechet's wide vibrato style didn't change much throughout the years, he maintained an excellence and inspired approach that few musicians have been able to sustain consistently, making the majority of his dates worth hearing. While it's impossible to sum up Bechet's history on a single disc, the highlights presented here should encourage the interested novice listener to seek out more material. There is nothing for aficionados on this volume of Ken Burns Jazz.