Search - Wild Bill Davison :: Jazz Giants

Trad jazz at its finest

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 11/03/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like lots of folks, I'm not a wild-eyed fan of Dixieland jazz -- peppy as it is, it still seems rather limited stylistically. Also, as a style that's been largely left by the wayside, the bulk of modern Dixieland recordings have been done for teeny independents, labels that have limited resources, and often stylistic or technical tradeoffs have had to be made, just in order to get the records out. That being said, there are plenty of dixieland/trad jazz recordings that stand out as sublime, and this is one of them. They year was 1968, too late in the game, one might assume, for the music to still have any zip. But this particular gathering, of coronetist Wild Bill Davison along with pianist Claude Hopkins and fellow old-timer Benny Morten, captured an unexpected lyrical richness, the same sort of soulful feel that Louis Armstrong and other old masters could conjure up in their later years. This is a compelling and deeply rich, melodically nuanced album, that simply defies you not to become entranced by the thoughtful, beautiful performances. If you're not a fan of the style, consider trying this classic album out, just to see if you might not change your mind.."