Kurt Anderson

Some recent crate-digging yielded a British trad record I'd never heard of before - LIve at Woodcray by Graeme Hewitt's High Society Jazz Band, recorded in 1983. Graeme Hewitt is a talented clarinetist, most definitely influenced by Acker Bilk, and his band has that rock steady throb of the best New Orleans traditional jazz, which for a hot minute in the late fifties/early sixties in Great Britain became dance music for teenagers before being supplanted by the Beatles, the Stones and other British bands influenced by American blues. The best British trad is the kind that adheres to the traditional (pre-Satchmo) New Orleans style (e.g., George Lewis). This record scratches that itch, and a bit of YouTube research revealed the happy news that, 40 years later, Mr. Hewitt is still leading his band and playing with even more authenticity that on this 1983 record. (My apologies - I'm new here and can't figure out how to attach a photo)

I blame it all on Eric Dolphy in Berlin (Inner City). I had been collecting rock records since I was a teenager when, as a freshly minted college grad, I ran across that Eric Dolphy record in a $1.99 bargain bin. Within months I'd sold or traded most of my rock records to finance my decades-long exploration of jazz. I'm now 67, and just as thrilled to eavesdrop on the process of creation as I ever was. I likely now have well over 5,000 jazz records, and while the pace of acquisition has slowed, I still get that same kick out of discovering new sessions and new voices.

Chick Corea's The Sun, maybe the most intense set Corea ever recorded, featuring a blazing Steve Grossman. I was pleased to acquire this in a trade yesterday for records by Bill Frisell and Fred Leeflang.