Search - Buster Bailey (clarinet) :: Buster Bailey: Memphis Blues - His 47 Finest 1924-1958

Jazz history has produced few masters to rival the phenomenal technical mastery of William C. 'Buster' Bailey (1902-1967). Given different social conditions he might have forged a career as a classical soloist, but it was as a superlative jazz performer that his long career (46 years!) almost traced the development of the form, from its earliest days right through to the Sixties. Retrospective's Memphis Blues presents 47 remarkable examples of his artistry. From a 1924 track with Louis Armstrong and the Red Onion Jazz Babies, Bailey's story is followed through his landmark tenures with Fletcher Henderson (Hocus Pocus) and John Kirby (St. Louis Blues), interspersed with his outstanding contributions to many other bands, such as those of Clarence Williams, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton and, especially, Red Allen.