The cover art of COMPACT JAZZ * BEST OF DIXIELAND is potentially misleading. Pictured are 78s and cylinders made in the pre-microphone acoustic recording era. Although some of the artists here, such as Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory, were in the studios in those pioneer days, none of their early work is to be found on this set. Rather, we have a collection of full range hi-fi or stereo tracks made for VERVE records in the years spanning 1955 to '61 (the exceptions being one side from 1964 and another made a decade later). A few of the classic New Orleans "locale" tunes appear ("Basin St. Blues," "Perdido St. Blues," "Canal St. Blues"), as well as perennial favorites ("Ballin' The Jack," "St. Louis Blues," "Hindustan"). For an opportunity to listen to the music being performed all around the Crescent City a half-century ago, VERVE's BEST OF DIXIELAND cannot be beat.
Steve Perry walked away from the music business at the twilight of the 1990s, following the modest success of 1994's For the Love of Strange Medicine and the underwhelming commercial performance of Journey's 1996 album, Trial by Fire. Perry spent the next decade and a half out of the spotlight, quietly re-emerging with an appearance at a 2014 Eels concert in St. Paul, Minnesota. Perry's affinity for Mark Everett's eccentric indie pop outfit came as a surprise, as nothing in either band's music suggested a mutual connection, but as the former Journey singer ramped up the publicity for 2018's Traces, his first solo album in 24 years, his fondness for Everett's songs became plain: the Eels leader explores the depth of grief on many of his songs, and that's an emotion Perry felt deeply at the dawn of the 2010s.