Personnel: Wilbur DeParis [trombone], Sidney DeParis [trumpet], Edmond Hall [clarinet], Clyde Hart [piano], Billy Taylor [string bass], Gordon "Specs" Powell [drums]
Songs: Sheik of Araby 1 & 2, I've Found A New Baby 1 & 2, Black & Blue 1 & 2, Change of Key Boogie 1 & 2

Personnel: Wilbur DeParis [trombone], Sidney DeParis [trumpet], Sidney Bechet, Gene Sedric [reeds], Cliff Jackson [piano], Everett Barksdale [guitar], Wellman Braud [string bass], Eddie Dougherty [drums]
Songs: Jeepers Creepers, Quiet Please, Cliff's Boogie, You've Got Me Walkin' & Talkin' to Myself

Personnel: Wilbur DeParis [trombone], Sidney DeParis [trumpet], Omer Simeon [clarinet], Don Kirkpatrick [piano], Eddie Gibbs [banjo], Nat Woodley [string bass], Zutty Singleton [drums]
Songs: Bourbon Street Parade, Frankie & Johnny, In A Persian Market, Change of Key Boogie, The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise, Waiting for the Robert E. Lee, I've Found A New Baby

King’s Jazz Review - British Jazz Magazine

Here, Bissonnette has given one and many a jazz fan a chance to hear the traditional jazz music of Wilbur and Sidney DeParis via in part the 1947 formed New New Orleans Jazzband, exclusive of swing standards, plus blues and marches that inspired Jelly Roll and his Red Hot Peppers and, as throughout these charmed tracks that they are, one will discover that, that is so, so for themselves as they take to listen to them.
Bandleader, trombonist, euphonium player Wilbur, older brother of trumpeter, tuba player Sidney of five brothers and three sisters, have produced some of their finest works between the 30s and 60s, and of note here are for good measure in, I’ve Found A New Baby, Black and Blue, during 1944, occupying a ten year spot at Jimmy Ryan’s New York, adding Everybody Loves My Baby to them with Wilbur going on to embrace the classics, Cole Porter, the Wild Jazz Age, European tours, and a US State Department supported tour of Africa by the end of that period.
The opening four tracks are heard playing at breakneck speed, alts (alternate takes) all marginally more sedate, and as for the twin Black and Blue ones, they are outstanding, that is to say, in having a Billy Taylor clear-recorded, walking stroked string bass opening, with tributary sensational trombone movements, a lilting-tinkling piano, a unique sounding clarinet, and, an articulated virtuoso trumpet are all of a very fine collection of specialities to be cherished. As to what actually did happen in the past, these tracks are renewed candidates for the inspiring young traditional jazz musicians of England to emulate now today.
Piano opening on Jeepers Creepers a tune made famous by Louis Armstrong, the trombonist lead ensemble moves on to hear the intricate breaks of reeds player the late Fats Waller accompanist, Gene "Honey Bear" Sedric intermittently on tenor and clarinet, the muted trumpet full melody of the tune’s lyrics, and the Everett Barksdale guitar, which appears to blot out the string bass of Wellman Braud, if it’s there at all, does not take anything away from to what is a class number.
Sidney Bechet makes Quiet Place his piece on saxello, lesser than he does so on Cliff’s Boogie Blues, but in no way here does he match up to the trumpet playing of Sidney DeParis, who, for I cannot explain, if, nor why not, it was never spoken out of for my knowledge he being a power match up to Louis Armstrong inclusive of all the horn’s facets, with whom in the late 30s both Louis and Wilbur had together played.
All three pianists Clyde Hart, Cliff Jackson and Don Kirkpatrick make excellent contributions to their well-heard sound recorded sets.
The Boogie numbers in their style would seem to have given vent to the Rock and Roll age.
The Nat Woodley string bass gives a good account of itself on Bourbon Street Parade, but on the other tunes in the 1953 set, it is indistinguishable from the bass drum beat tone of Zutty Singleton, which would not be out of place in any symphony orchestra.
Of the three clarinettists, Edmond Hall, Gene Sedric and Omer Simeon, a variety of interested parties will have their favourite among them, but the purr, squawk vocal talk bruising of notes for effect in the high register by Edmond Hall if done to excess is not for me. Hall’s textural contrast in this regard is about right, which makes him a unique clarinettist but not my favourite of the three.
Out of the final seven 13-19 all are superb tracks, Frankie and Johnny has a nice changed tempo ending to it. The Eddie Gibbs banjo is a not to be missed sensation that shines the melody lines on the classic evergreen Waiting For The Robert E. Lee - it really is great stuff. The last and titled number I’ve Found A New Baby, a nine years onwards time span from the 1944 set, sums up exceptionally the lead skills of trombonist Wilbur DeParis that is a reflective, representative measure to draw upon to hear succinctly just how great is this album.
- Ian King

Boxell’s Jazz Website - Internet Publication

This is an interesting and mixed CD. The first 8 tracks (4 tunes, 2 versions of each) from 1944 pre-date the De Paris band, but feature both Wilbur on trombone and his brilliant brother Sidney on trumpet. The style is typical de Paris in that there are a few ensemble sections as it mainly consists of a string of featured solos. The chance to hear the de Paris brothers and a favourite clarinettist in the shape of Edmond Hall, is too good to miss even if your preference is for ensemble playing. Having the alternative versions of tunes back to back with the originally released version allows you to compare the variations in arrangement and the individual’s interpretation of the tunes when they are playing solo.
Tracks 9 to 12 also from 1944 feature an extended front line that is often dominated by Sydney Bechet, who plays on both clarinet and soprano sax. The solos are very nice but the front line with two reeds players, and electric guitar joining the de Paris brothers is cumbersome in ensemble and the phrase ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave’, kept jumping into my mind.
The final tracks have the band as it is best known. It is back to a 3 man front line with Omer Simeon on clarinet. The style is nearer to the first tracks and we are blessed with ‘Change of Key Boogie’ and ‘I’ve Found A New Baby’ being repeated so that we can see how settled the new line up is, even if I do miss Edmond Hall’s, ‘skating’ clarinet, and what is more, the final versions are longer than the earlier tracks too.
As I said and interesting and mixed CD and one well worth having if you are a traitional jazz lover and essential if you are a de Paris fan.
- Geoff Boxell

Just Jazz - British Jazz Magazine

The clarinettists are not just the only plus points about this recording, as there are many more. This CD is really showing the listener how the Wilbur DeParis band was to formulate its style over a ten year period from 1944 to 1954, which was just prior to the start of those wonderful recordings made for Atlantic Records.
Wilbur and his brother, Sidney, had worked with the cream of the big bands during the thirties, had spells with McKinney's Cotton Pickers, The Chocolate Dandies and Jelly Roll Morton. Their pedigree was first class. It was no surprise to see them return to their musical roots in the early 1940s with the forming of their first 'New' New Orleans Jazz Band.
Tracks 1-8 feature the brothers with Edmond Hall on clarinet, supported by a rhythm section that on paper one might consider to be quite 'modern'. But they get stuck in and fit into the groove, with Clyde Hart's piano playing being very good.
Tracks 9-12 feature Sidney Bechet with the brothers, and they are joined by Gene Sedric, of Fats Waller fame, on tenor sax and clarinet. The piano playing of Cliff Jackson is top rate. They swing through their four tracks with absolute splendour.
The climax to the CD comes with the final seven tracks. This is the band as most of us know it, with Omer Simeon (clarinet), Eddie Gibbs (banjo), and one of my favourite drummers, Zutty Singleton. This is the version of Bourbon Street Parade that was among my 'Favourite Eight', which contains the classic four bar drum break by Zutty which I spoke of. If you haven't got these recordings, I can only suggest it is time to place your order with Big Bill.
- Peter Lay

Jazz Gazette - Internet Publication

When I reviewed another Wilbur DeParis album on Jazz Crusade in a previous issue of The Jazzgazette I thought that it would be the last one. Again Bill Bissonnette surprised us with still another CD featuring the DeParis brothers. Only the last seven tracks have the band that would make the famous Atlantic series. They were recorded in 1953 after the first Atlantic album which was recorded in September 1952.
The first eight tracks were recorded under the name “The DeParis Brothers” and have a rhythm section that many traditionalists might frown upon because all the musicians in it belong definitely to the swing era. Let’s not forget that the DeParis brothers in those days belonged to that era too and so did Edmond Hall, notwithstanding his New Orleans roots. Nevertheless I would say that these recordings point already to things to come, the time when Wilbur would take a complete turn to his traditional origins. One thing is sure: this is excellent hot jazz. The fact that we get two takes of the four titles recorded allows us to enjoy the measure in which those musicians were improvising.
The following four tracks were recorded under the name “Cliff Jackson’s Villagecats” and feature the great Sidney Bechet on soprano sax and clarinet. His clarinet chorus on Jeepers Creepers makes us regret once more that later on Bechet left the instrument completely in favour of the soprano sax. On “Cliff’s Boogie Blues” we can hear the fine Fats Waller sideman Gene Sedric on clarinet. I prefer his tenor sax playing. Bechet who had the tendency to dominate every recording session has heavy competition here because both Sidney DeParis and Wilbur are in great shape. There is a vocal on “You’ve Got Me Walkin’ And Talkin’ To Myself” which is probably by Bechet because he composed the number, although Bechet biographer John Chilton says that the singing sounds unfamiliar. These tracks too are fine examples of hot jazz. In addition to the solos by the horns, there is some great piano by the leader and a couple of fine solos by guitarist Barksdale.
The final seven tracks are a welcome addition to the Wilbur DeParis discography on CD. To me they brought back happy memories of my early record collecting days because they were on one of the first LP’s I owned. These are the only recordings of the band with the great Zutty Singleton on drums, one of the most influential New Orleans drummers. It is also the last one with banjo virtuoso Eddie Gibbs from New Heaven, Connecticut, who would later on add string bass to his guitar and banjo playing.
In his liner notes Bill Bissonnette says that, in his opinion, this is the definitive DeParis recording and also probably the best. Personally I have a slight preference for the later recordings by the band which brought to the fore the more romantic side of Wilbur especially in the series of compositions named after islands beginning with a “M”. I do realise however that these somewhat exotic songs, with a heavy Spanish tinge, are not to every jazz lover's taste, especially when they featured the harmonica playing of drummer Wilbert Kirk, which I do like a lot myself. I also think that in the later recordings Wilbur showed more imagination in the head arrangements he made for the band. Banjo and drums starting William Ketelbey’s “In A Persian Market” plus the drums/banjo duet in the middle of the number and the arrangement of “Waiting For The Robert E. Lee” and the lovely clarinet/banjo duet in that song point already to the direction the band would take later on.
This CD belongs on the shelves of every Wilbur DeParis fan and of everyone who likes his jazz fast and blazing hot. For the New Orleans-only lovers I point at the presence of three of the most famous reed players, one of the best bass players and one of the greatest drummers coming from that city.
If this isn’t reason enough I would like to say that labels like Jazz Crusade, American Music/GHB/Jazzology, 504, Stomp Off, P.E.K., Lake, Rose Records and Music Mecca, to name just a few, deserve all our support. In the music world of today, where mediocrity and bad taste rule, the people responsible for those labels take the risk to bring us the music we love. Without them this music would have as much chance to survive as a whale in the Sahara desert.
- Marcel Joly

Kings Jazz Review - British Internet Publication

Here, Bissonnette has given one and many a jazz fan a chance to hear the traditional jazz music of Wilbur and Sidney DeParis via in part the 1947 formed New New Orleans Jazzband, exclusive of swing standards, plus blues and marches that inspired Jelly Roll and his Red Hot Peppers and, as throughout these charmed tracks that they are, one will discover that, that is so, so for themselves as they take to listen to them.
Bandleader, trombonist, euphonium player Wilbur, older brother of trumpeter, tuba player Sidney of five brothers and three sisters, have produced some of their finest works between the 30s and 60s, and of note here are for good measure in, I’ve Found A New Baby, Black and Blue, during 1944, occupying a ten year spot at Jimmy Ryan’s New York, adding Everybody Loves My Baby to them with Wilbur going on to embrace the classics, Cole Porter, the Wild Jazz Age, European tours, and a US State Department supported tour of Africa by the end of that period.
The opening four tracks are heard playing at breakneck speed, alts (alternate takes) all marginally more sedate, and as for the twin Black and Blue ones, they are outstanding, that is to say, in having a Billy Taylor clear-recorded, walking stroked string bass opening, with tributary sensational trombone movements, a lilting-tinkling piano, a unique sounding clarinet, and, an articulated virtuoso trumpet are all of a very fine collection of specialities to be cherished. As to what actually did happen in the past, these tracks are renewed candidates for the inspiring young traditional jazz musicians of England to emulate now today.
Piano opening on Jeepers Creepers a tune made famous by Louis Armstrong, the trombonist lead ensemble moves on to hear the intricate breaks of reeds player the late Fats Waller accompanist, Gene "Honey Bear" Sedric intermittently on tenor and clarinet, the muted trumpet full melody of the tune’s lyrics, and the Everett Barksdale guitar, which appears to blot out the string bass of Wellman Braud, if it’s there at all, does not take anything away from to what is a class number.
Sidney Bechet makes Quiet Place his piece on saxello, lesser than he does so on Cliff’s Boogie Blues, but in no way here does he match up to the trumpet playing of Sidney DeParis, who, for I cannot explain, if, nor why not, it was never spoken out of for my knowledge he being a power match up to Louis Armstrong inclusive of all the horn’s facets, with whom in the late 30s both Louis and Wilbur had together played.
All three pianists Clyde Hart, Cliff Jackson and Don Kirkpatrick make excellent contributions to their well-heard sound recorded sets.
The Boogie numbers in their style would seem to have given vent to the Rock and Roll age.
The Nat Woodley string bass gives a good account of itself on Bourbon Street Parade, but on the other tunes in the 1953 set, it is indistinguishable from the bass drum beat tone of Zutty Singleton, which would not be out of place in any symphony orchestra.
Of the three clarinettists, Edmond Hall, Gene Sedric and Omer Simeon, a variety of interested parties will have their favourite among them, but the purr, squawk vocal talk bruising of notes for effect in the high register by Edmond Hall if done to excess is not for me.
Hall’s textural contrast in this regard is about right, which makes him a unique clarinettist but not my favourite of the three.
Out of the final seven 13-19 all are superb tracks, Frankie and Johnny has a nice changed tempo ending to it. The Eddie Gibbs banjo is a not to be missed sensation that shines the melody lines on the classic evergreen Waiting For The Robert E. Lee - it really is great stuff.
The last and titled number I’ve Found A New Baby, a nine years onwards time span from the 1944 set, sums up exceptionally the lead skills of trombonist Wilbur DeParis that is a reflective, representative measure to draw upon to hear succinctly just how great is this album.
- Ian King

Jazz Journal—British Jazz Magazine

In the first set. The Sheik is taken idiotically fast and IFNB is also too speedy. Change Of Key Boogie is more relaxed and Black And Blue has its moments. The takes differ significantly and in all instances the second is usually the more organised and also the best. When professionals such as Sidney De Paris and Ed Hall played there was always something to enjoy, but considering the fine recordings the pair were making for Blue Note around this time, these are distinctly lesser works. On the second set, once one gets used to the poor acoustics, there is some fascinating jazz from a fiery Sidney Bechet, an individual-
istic Everett Barksdale, the leader's piano and Wilbur on unusually assertive form - try Cliff's Boogie Blues for flavour. Quiet Please and You've Got Me are attractive numbers worth revisiting by mainstreamers. The third set is a re-issue of an LP by Wilbur's hugely successful Ryan's band before it adopted its 'New' New Orleans title; I do not think it has appeared on CD before. The banjo is at its most plangent, especially on its feature The World Is Waiting, and at times it overpowers Sidney's muted work. Most numbers will be over-familiar to the band's admirers (Wilbur provides amusing prologue and coda to IFNB) but they have an elan which became rare in the band's more settled days: it benefits from the clearly audible string bass (I emphasise audible because the insert writer doubts its presence). In all, this issue is superior to the early 1950s airshots by Wilbur's band that have recently appeared on CD, but it is not up to their later standard, in the studio or live.
- John Postgate

Want to place an order? Click here for info.