Sidney Bechet's Blue Note Jazz Men - April 19 1950
Max Harrison - The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Sidney Bechet - Mosaic Records MR6-110
It is a welcome surprise on the last [Wild Bill] Davison session to find [Joe] Sullivan at the piano. He takes a good, short solo in COPENHAGEN and backs Archey well; the latter, though not a great ensemble trombonist, is a useful soloist. CHINA BOY is another piece that was long in Bechet's repertoire and it is instructive to compare this reading with the Bechet-Spanier Big Four version of a decade earlier. The soprano saxophone solo on the Blue Note, as in COPENHAGEN, almost invites comparison with a controlled volcanic explosion, were such a thing possible. In fact the solo strength of this edition of the Blue Note Jazzmen is impressive, yet the band's collective sound is again less distinctive than that produced on other Bechet dates, including the first two with Davison. Partly to contradict this, it should be said that the opening and closing ensembles of both versions of RUNNIN' WILD are very hot, not least as a result of Davison's efforts. Ensembles aside, Bechet solos continuously in both readings, and there is little to choose between them. The fact that, as noted earlier, he was always so sure of what he wanted to do means, despite the continuing spontaneity of his playing, that alternative takes usually offer few surprises. There is more excellent Sullivan on the hitherto unavailable I AIN'T GONNA GIVE NOBODY NONE OF THIS JELLY ROLL. He does little that is predictable, and the same goes for Bechet. Archey sounds as if taken off-guard at the start of his solo. The second take has less Sullivan, and Davison comes in briefly, ahead of Bechet; and this time the trombonist is ready. Yet another ardent soprano saxophone solo occurs in MANDY, MAKE UP YOUR MIND, the earlier part sensitively backed by Sullivan, the latter by sustained brass chords. Again the leader solos throughout between the opening and closing ensembles. Like COPENHAGEN, SHIM-ME-SHA-WABBLE has strong dixieland associations, yet Sullivan and Bechet make it their own, with a rather good Archey passage separating them.
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| Down Beat 1950 Blue Note ad |
Dan Morgenstern – Hot Jazz on Blue Note CD Liner Notes
Mandy, Make Up Your Mind, a 1924 pop tune not to be confused with Irving Berlin’s “Mandy” (as Gunther Schiller did when discussing the Henderson band’s version with Armstrong in his marvelous book Early Jazz), was memorably waxed by the Williams Blue Five, with Louis on hand and Bechet taking his only solo on the rarely heard sarrusaphone. He sticks to the soprano in this 1950 version, which he dominates, clearly enjoying himself. Wils Bill’s too far back in the mix here, but it almost doesn’t matter: this is Sidney’s show. Slick jones (this time partnered by Pops Foster) again proves he’s underrated, and pianist Joe Sullivan pops up for the first time.
China Boy is a 1922 poptune - “Oriental” subjects were the rage then, what with Paul Whiteman’s million-selling 1920 disc of “Japanese Sandman.” This 32-bar ABCD tune has interesting harmony and was a great favorite of Bechet’s. His 1940 version with the Bechet-Spanier Big Four is definitive, but this one’s good to have. Joe Sullivan’s on board – he was on the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans date with Teschemacher and was featured on Red Nichols’s 1930 Brunswick, both with Gene Krupa – and takes the first solo with lots of panache. Then Sidney gets in the middle and starts to ride. Four choruses later, he’s in the winner’s circle.
Shim-me-sha-wabble is one more dance tune, written in 1917 by the productive Spencer Williams. It’s a multi-strainer: 16-bar verse, 8-bar interlude. It was put into the jazz repertory by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1923. We haven’t heard from Bechet for a while; he has fun with this one, leading the verse and not giving Will Bill much elbow room on the chorus. But he steps aside for Joe Sullivan (who was on a great 1930 Red Nichols record of this tune) and Jimmy Archey. Then Bechet solos with a very well centered sound and a happy feeling, and rides on out.
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| Blue Note Sale February 1950 |
Leonard Feather – BLP 1203/1204 Liner Notes
Copenhagen, the one the Wolverines recorded in 1924, has some solo work by Wild Bill, Jimmy Archey and Joe Sullivan with a climactic soprano sax buildup. Nobody Knows You (When You're Down And Out) is a song collectors will remember from the Bessie Smith version in 1929; Wild Bill, Art and Sidney all have some warm emotional moments with its attractive chord changes.
China Boy, associated with Joe Sullivan ever since he recorded it with McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans in 1927, swings through Joe's solo to a superbly built-up series of Bechet choruses. Shim-Me-Sha Wabble, a Spencer Williams original, probably antedates the better known Muskrat Ramble and has a chorus based on a similar harmonic sequence, plus a minor-key verse.
Art Hilgart – Runnin' Wild 1998 CD Reissue Liner Notes
Wild Bill Davison (1905-1989) got his nickname from a poster at a Chicago club where he was playing, but it didn't stick until the 190s. The name fit the raw ebullience of his cornet playing and it also fit his personality — he was a crude womanizer and a kleptomaniac, and although he didn't show symptoms of alcoholism, he drank more than a fifth of whisky or gin every day. He was born in Defiance, Ohio and was raised by his grandparents in the basement of the Carnegie library where his grandfather was custodian. He took up the cornet as a child, and when he began getting paying work, was advised by a school counselor to drop out. His career was almost entirely one of drift. He played around Ohio until 1925, when the band he happened to be with landed a job in Chicago. Davison stayed there until a 1933 lob offer in Milwaukee, which became his base until 1941 when a fan who was also a wealthy widow offered to fund a move to New York. Within weeks of his arrival, he was invited to sit in at Nick's and Nick [Rongetti of the Village Club) hired him on the spot. He became a Condon regular, performing and recording as sideman or nominal leader. When clubs were no longer a steady source of income, he played concerts and festivals around the world, doing so until his death.
Down Beat April 20 1951 Volume 18 Issue 8
George [Hoefer]: This, the first 331/3 micro 10-incher in the Blue Note catalog, is a collection of sides from three recording dates involving different personnel. A parlor game could easily be made up of guessing which instrumentalists are accompanying Bechet-Davison on each side as they are played. The disc as a whole is not exciting, due to a lack of cohesion between the individual sides and| between the artists on the various sides. There are interludes | by Davison on Fidgety and Kate, Jimmy Archey’s trombone on Shim-Me, Sullivan on Copenhagen, and China Boy, and Sidney’s soprano with Hodes’ blues piano on Nobody.
Session Information
"Wild Bill" Davison, cornet; Jimmy Archey, trombone; Sidney Bechet, soprano sax; Joe Sullivan, piano; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Wilmore "Slick" Jones, drums.
WOR Studios, NYC, April 19, 1950
BN376-4, Copenhagen, Blue Note 572, BLP 7001, BLP 1203
BN377-1, China Boy, Blue Note 573, BLP 7001, BLP 1203
BN378-0, Runnin' Wild (alt)
BN378-1, Runnin' Wild, Blue Note BLP 7014, BLP 1204
BN379-0, Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll (alt)
BN379-2, Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll, Blue Note BLP 7014, BLP 1204
BN380-2, Mandy, Make Up Your Mind, Blue Note BLP 7014, BLP 1204
BN381-2, Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble, Blue Note 572, BLP 7001, BLP 1203
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