The music of Wilbur de Paris available (at last) again

To those who know already the differences between Dixieland, Ragtime, Swing and the early period of what we now call Traditional Jazz (a.k.a. 'Trad Jazz'), probably the name Wilbur de Paris brings a smile to your lips. For those not fully comfortable discerning between above genres, never the mind and you, too, are in for a treat.

Wilbur de Paris, shown right, was a trombonist of note and fronted for years a band in which his brother, Sidney, played cornet. Their most famous gig was playing Jimmy Ryan's on New York City's famed 52nd Street for over a decade. Both brothers took chairs with many influential musician's bands, but Sidney's CV notably includes a stint in Louie Armstrong's short-lived + legendary 1937 Big Band.

Almost any entry concerning either Wilbur or his brother invariably contains the dreaded sentence "long since out-of-print LP's" when discussing their work. Such was the case for far, far too long, but ... today almost all their studio catalog is available via the Collectables imprint. Most of the newly issued CD's can be found at reasonable prices on Amazon, but www.oldies.com is the issuing company's site.

Most appealing in the reissues is not just the excellent audio quality, but the ability to buy combinations of previously issued (and hard to find on their own) records. My current favorite is the duo of 'New Orleans Blues' and 'Wilbur De Paris Plays Cole Porter'. Not only does one get fresh intrepretations of chestnuts from the Great American Songbook in the latter, but the former contains the Jimmy Witherspoon vocal immortal 'Lotus Blossom'. I've seen a couple of references by Mr. Witherspoon to his performance here as the apex in his career. After one listen, you'll understand this is no false modesty on the deep honey baritone's part. His tone is superb, but this track is a true gem.

If you've ever enjoyed a Doc Cheatham or Sidney Bechet 'hot lick', then you should check-out Mssr. De Paris' work. It has the lyricism of Dixieland, the driving rhythmn of Swing and a little something something also tossed-in for an extra jambalaya measure of good Nor'lins taste.