New Orleans Rhythm Kings: Weary Blues

Whereas the Original Dixieland Jazz Band scrolls across history's stock ticker as a nondescript ODJB, their contemporaries New Orleans Rhythm Kings suffer the maladroit acronym NORK, suggesting a merger of nerds and dorks. This band deserves better. Their solos on "Weary Blues" (the title is a misnomer) reveal cornet, trombone or clarinet essentially continuing what each would play during ensembles, only with the other instruments laying out. Those ensembles, though, epitomize the civility of early jazz, where collective expression attains a considerate clarity, thoughtfully avoiding the din of shouting matches. This track should be required listening for present-day talk-show denizens.