The King Jazz Records story : Sidney Bechet & Mezz Mezzrow

"[Mezzrow] achieved a measure of respectability, when from 1945-47 he became "Mezz the Prez," head of a New York-based record company, King Jazz, the entire catalog of which is re-released here as a magnificent five-CD box set by Storyville Records, of Copenhagen ... The first 15 tracks on the first CD are given over to pianist Sammy Price, climaxing with two numbers featuring the New Orleans blues singer Pleasant Joe. In the numbers that follow Price shares the piano stool with Fitz Weston and Wesley "Sox" Wilson. The diverse Mezzrow-Bechet line-ups feature such legends of New Orleans jazz as George "Pops" Foster (bass) and Warren "Baby" Dodds (drums), while on 17 tracks the ebullient Oran "Lips" Page plays trumpet. Mezzrow, who is often belittled as a musician, holds his own remarkably well in such fast company ... These recordings clearly illustrate the symbiosis between early jazz and the blues. Featuring more than five hours of music, the set is a "must have" foranyoneinterested in jazz history".

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