DJANGO REINHARDT – 1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1001 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After being separated by the Second World War for more than five years, Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli recorded eight sides together in London on January 31 and February 1, 1946. Their next shared studio recording date occurred in Paris on May 26, 1947, resulting in the five decidedly modernistic tracks that open this volume of the Classics Django Reinhardt chronology. Django had clearly evolved at a rate commensurate with the rapid evolution of jazz itself from 1939 to 1947. His solos reveal a musical consciousness well beyond where he had been only a few years earlier. Stéphane, of course, had also experienced his own sort of artistic development. Yet the contrast between the two is noticeable and it would take the violinist many years to absorb and fully digest what he was now experiencing. On April 16, 1947, Django recorded a "Minor Blues" with the 12-piece band that had been working with him at the Boef sur le Toit, a Parisian nightclub where his own paintings -- a sensual series of landscapes and nudes -- were on display. He then led a reconstituted Quintet of the Hot Club of France, featuring clarinet/alto saxophonist Michel de Villers, through four pleasant musical episodes intended to be used as a soundtrack for La Fleur de l'Age, a film by Marçel Carne that unfortunately never reached completion. Note that this group's "Clair de Lune" is not the famous movement from Claude Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, but something just as lovely. Django's next opportunity to make records in a studio occurred in Brussels on May 21st during a tour of Belgium. The six sides cut on that day and subsequently released on the Decca label represent Reinhardt's very first recordings using an electric guitar. They also herald the return of master clarinetist Hubert Rostaing, who made great records with Reinhardt's groups during the year 1940 and reappears sporadically in the Django discography like a will o' the wisp throughout most of the decade. This excellent clarinetist was in the same league as Marshall Royal, Aaron Sachs, Hank D'Amico, or perhaps most of all Buddy DeFranco. Rostaing recorded extensively with Django during the year 1947, and their phonographic collaborations would continue until another Belgian tour in November of 1948. Everything included on this disc qualifies as jazz of the very highest order. There's bebop running through these sessions like quicksilver, and Reinhardt had begun to experiment with the quirks and expanded potentials of the electrified guitar. "Porto Cabello" is smoky, almost a tango. "Blues for Barclay," dedicated to Blue Star record label founders Eddie and Nicole Barclay, feels like a spontaneous jam session. Even Edvard Grieg's Danse Norvegienne, which sounded almost silly when they tried it on in 1940, comes across in its 1947 incarnation as effortlessly hip. arwulf arwulf           Tracklist + Credits :

SIDNEY BECHET – 1949 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1140 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For some reason, many jazz historians seem to consider Sidney Bechet's collaborations with Wild Bill Davison as somehow flawed. Apparently, they expect the feisty, cornet-toting rascal to lie down and allow Sidney to walk all over him. If Bill were so compliant and non-assertive, he never would have earned his moniker. Sure, the two horns jostle each other during hot numbers, but that's what's supposed to happen. This is, after all, based in the traditions of competitive/cooperative New Orleans polyphony. Maybe a baritone sax would have added some ballast to the overall mix, but it didn't happen that way. Instead, on the session of January 21, 1949, we get bassist Walter Page, who was no slouch, and the magnificent piano of Art Hodes. "Tin Roof Blues" and "Down and Out" are both studies in eloquence, and "I've Found A New Baby" roars like a steam locomotive heading round the southern rim of Lake Michigan for Chicago. Hodes begins "Saints" with a lovely passage from "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" before drummer Freddie Moore kicks it into high gear. The big treat in this package is a relatively rare blowing session that yielded four tasty selections issued on the Circle Record label. The front line of Bechet, trumpeter Albert Snaer, trombonist Wilbur DeParis and clarinetist Buster Bailey execute thrilling runs with collective precision. The rhythm section of James P. Johnson, Walter Page and George Wettling is richly supportive. Bechet's beautiful "Song of the Medina" is pure wonderment, carrying a fragrance similar to that of his famous "Petite Fleur." Three titles for the Jazz Ltd. label illustrate the expanse of Papa Bechet's stylistic wealth: "Maryland" is traditional New Orleans parade music at its very finest. "Careless Love" is the choicest of blues, and "Egyptian Fantasy" resembles Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan." For their second 1949 Blue Note get-together, Bechet and Wild Bill are back with Hodes and Page, now accompanied by ex-Fats Waller percussionist Wilmore "Slick" Jones. Trombonist Ray Diehl blows solid, sensible lines, his every hoot funkily cohesive as the two lead horns carve a large swath through the middle of half-a-dozen staples of the Dixieland repertoire. Their nice update on "Cake Walking Babies From Home" is more than invigorating, and "Jericho" gets hammered out with rowdy insistence. By May of '49, Bechet had invaded Paris and was leading a team of eager, ambitious Frenchmen in creating a torrent of old-fashioned jazz records. It was the beginning of his career as le Grand Bechet, revered émigré, living with dignity in a city where they eventually had the good sense to name a street after him. arwulf arwulf  
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SIDNEY BECHET – 1949, Vol. 3 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1223 (2002) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The great soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet is featured on four formerly rare sessions recorded in Paris and London during October and November 1949. At 50 years old, Bechet was at the peak of his powers. He is heard on two occasions with clarinetist Claude Luter's band (which on one of the dates has two trumpets/cornets); jamming with a quartet consisting of pianist Eddie Bernard, bassist Pierre Michelot, and drummer Kenny Clarke; and sitting in with trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton's group. There is plenty of excitement heard throughout these 24 performances and, although the supporting cast is excellent, Bechet dominates throughout. Highlights include "Maple Leaf Rag," "Panama," "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," "After You've Gone," "Some of These Days," and "Everybody Loves My Baby." Scott Yanow
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