Sidney Bechet: I've Found a New Baby

Bechet's band, at this celebrated session, was called the "New Orleans Feetwarmers"but it's clear from the opening chorus that no one in this ensemble has cold feet. They plunge into "I've Found a New Baby" with gusto, and it would be hard to find a more driving example of New Orleans jazz. This style of music, with its interweaving counterpoint lines, was already old-fashioned by the time of this 1932 session, but Bechet and company were not ready to become museum pieces. The musicians who recreate the New Orleans sound today rarely achieve this degree of intensityperhaps they are too respectful of the tradition. Bechet, for his part, entitled his autobiography Treat It Gentle, but the directions he gave his fellow musicians on this date must have been treat it roughly and kick it in the pants. Great late vintage New Orleans music by one of the masters.