GHB
's 2013 set
The Best of George Lewis
is a double-disc, 36-track retrospective that chronicles the prime of clarinetist
George Lewis
' career. The first disc is devoted to sides from the '40s, including dates where he played in the band of
Bunk Johnson
or
the Eclipse Alley Five
, while the second runs from 1950 to 1963, also split between sessions where he's a leader and where he's a sideman. All these tracks are culled from the masters owned by
/
Jazzology
, so this never samples
Lewis
' material for
Decca
Blue Note
or any other label that falls outside of this purview, but this is a sharp distillation of some of
' prime work during the peak of the New Orleans jazz revival. For many listeners, this is an easy, efficient way to hear some of his best work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine