Bix Beiderbecke Anthology

I've talked about this musician before but let me reiterate. This dude was great, so great in fact that Louis Armstrong admired him during a time when everyone else admired Louis Armstrong. Today of course his talent and influence will fly over our head if we don't understand the context and chronology but his music without context still stands as some of the best dixie compositions made during its heyday. For those uninitiated: dixieland jazz was arguably the first fully fleshed out form of jazz. It essentially sounds like wild marching music coupled with short solos and instruments that were later on pretty much abandoned as jazz evolved further. It's fast, happy and unpredictable. No matter how much time passed this music will never feel outdated, to me at least. This anthology will provide you with his records that were made throughout his short career. Starting with the very raw and wild early recordings and slowly proceeding to his much smoother "swing"-like records made at the end of his career. Give it a honest try and you might just find a new genre to adore.

First CD+Covers

Second CD

Third CD

Tracklist and general info here.

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

Hello everyone. I know I'm a "bit" late but there were problems I could not have foreseen. But never mind that, let's get to work.

Original Dixieland Jazz Band was a very old jazz, this was during the time swing became a thing. Back in the 10s and 20s of the last century they were one of the biggest bands around. And they were big rightfully so! All of the musicians in this band knew exactly what they are doing and they mastered their instruments exceptionally. When it comes to old Dixie jazz I often return to these guys. Their music was always up there with King Oliver, Hot Fives and others.

The songs I have from them aren't from just one source but from a lot of compilations (mainly from that one huge jazz compilation of 50 or so CDs). The songs themselves were sorted chronologically and I think that was a very good decision. This makes the production much more coherent and understandable. The sound itself is actually really great so there probably was some digital mastering (on a lot of newer songs you can't even hear the hiss of records).

Be sure to grab this if you're into pre-swing jazz.

Parts one and two.

Note: see comments for clarification and for a book about the band.