Blues In Thirds

One of at least three Sidney Bechet compilations sharing the same title, Blues in Thirds as issued in 1999 by the Giants of Jazz label zeroes in on 18 months during the life of this legendary master of New Orleans-style clarinet and soprano sax. Adhering to their policy of avoiding exact chronological sequencing, the producers took a thick, rich slice of Bechet's best work recorded between March 27, 1940 and October 12, 1941, put the 24 titles in a Waring blender and poured them out for all to hear in temporally shuffled but otherwise excellent condition. The album's title track, the superb "Blues in Thirds" was recorded on September 6, 1940 by a trio consisting of Bechet, pianist Earl Hines and drummer Baby Dodds. The other two trio performances ("You're the Limit" and "Strange Fruit") involved pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith and guitarist Everett Barksdale. Louis Armstrong was the nominal leader of the session that produced "Perdido Street Blues" and "Down in Honky-Tonk Town." Other outstanding players heard on this disc are cornetists Rex Stewart (a particularly expressive participant during "Save It, Pretty Mama" and the rousing "Stompy Jones") and Muggsy Spanier; trumpeters Sidney DeParis, Henry "Red" Allen and Charlie Shavers; trombonists J.C. Higginbotham, Vic Dickenson and Sandy Williams; and rhythm section stalwarts Cliff Jackson, Teddy Bunn, Carmen Mastren, Wellman Braud, Pops Foster, Sidney Cattlet and J.C. Heard. Blues in Thirds contains some of Sidney Bechet's very best recordings.