Master Takes: Victor Sessions (1932-1943)

• Artist: Sidney Bechet
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 20, 1990
• Type: Compilation (best of), Instrumental
• Genre: Jazz

Review

This three-CD set has most of the finest recordings ever made by soprano-saxophonist and clarinet master Sidney Bechet. Although the alternate takes have unfortunately been left out (making the three sadly out of print French RCA double-LPs the absolute best way to acquire this timeless music), there are a remarkable amount of exciting performances in this box. Bechet jams with trumpeter Tommy Ladnier and the New Orleans Feetwarmers on a 1932 session (including torrid versions of "I've Found a New Baby," "Maple Leaf Rag," and "Shag") and then is heard mostly during 1940-1941 on his other Victor recordings. Among the highlights are "Indian Summer," "One O'Clock Jump," Duke Ellington's "Old Man Blues," an emotional and definitive "Nobody Knows the Way I Feel 'Dis Mornin," "Blues in Thirds," "Stompy Jones," "Egyptian Fantasy," Bechet's one-man band version of "The Sheik of Araby," "Swing Parade," "The Mooche," and "What Is This Thing Called Love." Although the supporting cast (17 different combinations of musicians are utilized) is quite impressive, it is Sidney Bechet who makes these performances quite classic. This music is essential (in one form or another) for every serious jazz collection. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Sweetie Dear	Tommy Ladnier	Sidney Bechet
I Want You Tonight	David "Dai" Jenkins, Cory Lerios, Allee Willis	Sidney Bechet
I've Found a New Baby	Jack Palmer, Spencer Williams	Sidney Bechet
Lay Your Racket		Sidney Bechet
Maple Leaf Rag	Scott Joplin	Sidney Bechet
Shag	J. Jordan	Sidney Bechet
Ja-Da	Bob Carlton	Sidney Bechet
Really the Blues	Mezz Mezzrow	Sidney Bechet
When You and I Were Young, Maggie	James Austin Butterfield	Sidney Bechet
Weary Blues	Artie Matthews	Sidney Bechet
Oh Didn't He Ramble	W.C. Handy, John Rosamond Johnson, B. Cole	Sidney Bechet
High Society	Walter Melrose, Porter Steele	Sidney Bechet
I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say	Ferdinand Joseph "Jelly Roll" Morton	Sidney Bechet
Winin' Boy Blues	Ferdinand Joseph "Jelly Roll" Morton	Sidney Bechet
Indian Summer	Victor Herbert	Sidney Bechet
One O'Clock Jump	Count Basie	Sidney Bechet
Preachin' Blues	Son House, Robert Johnson	Sidney Bechet
Sydney's Blues	Sidney Bechet	Sidney Bechet
Shake It & Break It		Sidney Bechet
Old Man Blues	Irving Mills, Duke Ellington	Sidney Bechet

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Wild Man Blues	Louis Armstrong, Ferdinand Joseph "Jelly Roll" Morton	Sidney Bechet
Nobody Knows the Way I Feel Dis' Mornin'	Tom Delaney, Pearl Delaney	Sidney Bechet
Make Me a Pallet on the Floor	Traditional	Sidney Bechet
Shake It & Break It		Sidney Bechet
St. Louis Blues	W.C. Handy	Sidney Bechet
Blues in Thirds	Earl Hines	Sidney Bechet
Blues For You, Johnny		Sidney Bechet
Ain't Misbehavin'	Fats Waller, Harry Brooks	Sidney Bechet
Save It Pretty Mama		Sidney Bechet
Stompy Jones	Duke Ellington	Sidney Bechet
Ole Miss Blues	W.C. Handy	Sidney Bechet
St. Louis Blues	W.C. Handy	Sidney Bechet
Muskrat Ramble	Kid Ory	Sidney Bechet
Coal Black Shine		Sidney Bechet
Egyptian Fantasy		Sidney Bechet
Baby Won't You Please Come Home?	Clarence Williams	Sidney Bechet
Slippin' and Sliddin'	Little Richard, Albert Collins, James Smith, Eddie Bocage	Sidney Bechet
The Sheik of Araby	Ted Snyder	Sidney Bechet
Blues of Bechet		Sidney Bechet
Swing Parade		Sidney Bechet
I Know That You Know (And You Know That I Know)		Sidney Bechet
When It's Sleepytime Down South	Leon René, Clarence Muse, Otis Rene	Sidney Bechet
I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jellyroll		Sidney Bechet

CD 3

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
I'm Coming, Virginia	Donald Heywood	Sidney Bechet
Limehouse Blues	Philip Braham	Sidney Bechet
Georgia Cabin		Sidney Bechet
Texas Moaner		Sidney Bechet
Strange Fruit	Lewis Allen	Sidney Bechet
You're the Limit		Sidney Bechet
Rip up the Joint		Sidney Bechet
Suey		Sidney Bechet
Blues in the Air		Sidney Bechet
The Mooche	Irving Mills, Duke Ellington	Sidney Bechet
12th Street Rag	Euday L. Bowman	Sidney Bechet
Mood Indigo	Irving Mills, Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington	Sidney Bechet
Rose Room	Art Hickman, Harry H. Williams	Sidney Bechet
Oh! Lady Be Good	George Gershwin	Sidney Bechet
What Is This Thing Called Love?	Cole Porter	Sidney Bechet
After You've Gone	Turner Layton	Sidney Bechet
Bugle Call Rag		Sidney Bechet

Credits

Sidney Bechet (Sax (Soprano)), Sidney Bechet (Clarinet)