Plays Sidney Bechet

THE FRANCIS WOLFF COLLECTION

2-CD SET

4-PANEL DIGIPACK

INCLUDES 16-PAGE BOOKLET

Revered in France during the last decade of his life, Sidney Bechet was one of the seminal forces in the roots of New Orleans jazz and the first musician to give the soprano sax a voice in jazz. This release presents the complete LP Sidney Bechet joue Sidney Bechet (Vogue VRL 3002), which consisted of brilliant performances by Bechet of his own compositions, such as the immortal “Petite fleur”. Thirteen additional Bechet compositions recorded by the saxophonist during the same period fill in CD1. CD2 presents the long-unavailable 1958 LP Bravo! (Vogue 33-44001-30 aka Parisian Encounter), one of Bechet’s very last studio dates, and the 1953 album Rendez-Vous avec Sidney Bechet (Vogue L.D. 142).

SIDNEY BECHET, soprano sax & clarinet on all tracks, plus:

CD 1: SIDNEY BECHET JOUE SIDNEY BECHET:

Orchestras conducted by CLAUDE LUTER & ANDRÉ RÉWÉLIOTTY
Recorded in Paris, France, 1950-57

CD 2 [1-10]: SIDNEY BECHET / TEDDY BUCKNER - BRAVO!!:

Paris, July 4, 1958.

CD 2 [11-18]: RENDEZ-VOUS AVEC SIDNEY BECHET

Paris, May 28, 1953

CD 1: TOTAL TIME: 78:27 Min.

01 Petite fleur [Live at Salle Pleyel]
02 Marchand de poissons
03 Tempéramental
04 Promenade aux Champs-Élysées
05 A moi d’payer
06 Les onions
07 Dans les rues d’Antibes
08 Premier bal
09 Si tu vois ma mère
10 Passport to Paradise
11 Au secours
12 Aa-tu le cafard ?
13 Moulin à café
14 Moustache gauloise
15 En attendant le jour
16 Lastic
17 Kansas City Man Blues
18 Sidney’s Wedding Day
19 Ghost of the Blues
20 Pattes de mouche (Mouche à miel)
21 Blues (from “La nuite porte conseil”)
22 Girl’s Dance
23 Madame Bécassine
24 Egyptian Fantasy
25 Petite fleur [studio version]

CD 2: TOTAL TIME: 72:16 Min.

01 Bravo!
02 Aubergines, poivrons et sauce tomate
03 I Can’t Get Started
04 Souvenirs de la Nouvelle Orleans
05 Blue Festival 1958
06 Weary Blues
07 Ain’t Misbehavin’
08 Sugar
09 Who’s Sorry Now?
10 All of Me
11 La complainte des infi deles
12 Brave Margot
13 Jacqueline
14 La canne/Le fossoyeur
15 Big Chief
16 Nuages
17 Elizabeth II
18 Pleure pas Nelly
15 En attendant le jour
16 Lastic
17 Kansas City Man Blues
18 Sidney’s Wedding Day
19 Ghost of the Blues
20 Pattes de mouche (Mouche à miel)
21 Blues (from “La nuite porte conseil”)
22 Girl’s Dance
23 Madame Bécassine
24 Egyptian Fantasy
25 Petite fleur [studio version]

One of the most renowned jazz photographers of all time, Francis Wolff (1907-1971) was also a record company executive and producer, whose skills were essential to the success of the Blue Note record label. Born Jakob Franz Wolff in Berlin, Germany, he soon became a jazz enthusiast, despite the government ban placed on this type of music after 1933. A Jew, in 1939 he left Berlin, where he had worked as a commercial photographer, and established himself in New York. He began working there with his childhood friend Alfred Lion, who had co-founded Blue Note Records with Max Margulis. The latter soon dropped out of any involvement in the company, and Wolff joined Lion in running it. Wolff took thousands of photographs during the label’s recording sessions and rehearsals. His highly personal visual concept would be forever associated with both Blue Note and jazz as a whole.