Wednesday, September 26, 2007
(4:34 PM) | Brad:
Mid-Week Jazz: Sidney Bechet Edition
The other day I got a wild hair up my ass, and I decided to dive into Sidney Bechet's Complete Blue Note Recordings. And today I got an even crazier hair, and realized I'd not done any jazz blogging in close to a month.I've become slightly obsessed with Bechet in recent months. Partly because of his acerbic personality, partly because he was one of the few people ever to be able to go horn-to-horn with Louis Armstrong, and partly because he stayed so consistent throughout his career. Some people downplay his importance becaues he never really evolved. But, you know, not everybody knows how to reinvent themselves, and the best they can do is make music within the constraints of what they already know and do. And, dammit, there's nothing wrong with this. Sometimes, the wheel can and should remain what it is -- let others drive the car where they will, but let the wheel keep turning in its own symmetrical purity.
That was far too defensive an introduction. From here on, I'll let the music speak for itself.
"Original Dixieland One Step"
"Tiger Rag"
"Jackass Blues (alt take)"
"Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll"
