It was Duke Ellington who said: “Bechet to me was the very epitome of jazz”. Indeed Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) was one of the supreme talents of jazz history; as a soloist rivalled only by Louis Armstrong, and the creator of a jazz language for his favoured instrument, the soprano saxophone (as well as being an unsurpassed clarinetist). Retrospective’s Petite Fleur (the title of his biggest international hit) offers a unique 2-CD survey of an extraordinary career, from his very first issued record, Wild Cat Blues of 1923, through to highlights of his later years in Paris. In between is a sequence of unsurpassed jazz masterpieces: Really the Blues, Summertime, Indian Summer, Blues in Thirds, Egyptian Fantasy, Blue Horizon and so many more: 48 classics lasting 2 hours and 38 minutes. The tracks also present a gallery of Bechet’s foremost fellow soloists, including Tommy Ladnier, Muggy Spanier, Charlie Shavers, Vic Dickenson, Albert Nicholas, Mezz Mezzrow, Earl Hines, Bunk Johnson and, of course, Louis Armstrong. No jazz collection can be complete without a Sidney Bechet compilation, and this is the one to have.

1. Petite Fleur

2. Wild Cat Blues

3. Kansas City Man Blues

4. Sweetie Dear

5. Maple Leaf Rag

6. Dear Old Southland

7. Okey-Doke

8. Blackstick

9. Really the Blues

10. Weary Blues

11. Summertime

12. High Society

13. Indian Summer

14. Sweet Lorraine

15. China Boy

16. Four or Five Times

17. Perdido Street Blues

18. Shake It and Break It 2.37

19. Wild Man Blues

20. Old Man Blues

21. Blues in Thirds 2.54

22. Ain’t Misbehavin’

23. Egyptian Fantasy

24. The Sheik of Araby

25. When It’s Sleepy Time Down South

1. I’m Coming, Virginia

2. Strange Fruit

3. Blues in the Air

4. Twelfth Street Rag

5. Mood Indigo

6. After You’ve Gone

7. St. Louis Blues

8. Blue Horizon

9. Milenberg Joys

10. Days Beyond Recall

11. Out of the Gallion 2.28

12. Blame It on the Blues

13. Old Stack O’Lee Blues

14. Buddy Bolden Stomp

15. Where Am I?

16. I’ve Found a New Baby

17. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

18. Margie

19. Black and Blue

20. Le Marchand de poissons

21. Si tu vois ma mère

22. The Black Bottom

23. C Jam Blues