Buck Clayton in Paris - 1949-1953

1 - Hight Tide
2 - Swingin' at Sundown
3 - Who's Sorry Now
4 - Sugar Blues
5 - Blues in First
6 - Blues in Second
7 - Don's Blues
8 - Uncle Buck			play
9 - Buck Special
10 - Night Life
11 - Perdido
12 - B. C. & B. C.
13 - Sweet Georgia Brown
14 - Sahiva Boogie
15 - Pulsation du Rhythme
16 - Promenade Blues
17 - Bonds & Rebonds
18 - Qui?				play
19 - Chocs Sonores
20 - Blues en Cuivres
21 - Relax Alix

Tracks 1-7
Clayton, Merrill Steppter, trumpets
Don Byas, tenor sax - Charlie Lewis, piano
George Hadjo, bass - Wallace Bishop, drums
Recorded in Paris on October 10, 1949

Tracks 8-13
Clayton, Bill Coleman, Merrill Steppter, trumpets
George Kennedy, alto & baritone sax
Armand Conrad, Alix Combelle, tenor sax
Wallace Bishop, drums
Recorded in Paris on November 28, 1949

Tracks 14-21
Alix Combelle et son orchestre:
Clayton, Alex Renard, Pierre Selin, Aimé Haruche, André Simon, trumpets
René Godard, Jean-Jacques Léger, trombones 
Alix Combelle, Henri Bernard, tenor sax
Henri Mast, baritone sax - Jean-Claude Pelletier, piano
Roger Chaput, guitar - Yvon Leguen, bass
Christian Garros, drums
Recorded in Paris on October 20-21, 1953

Wilber "Buck" Clayton was one of the most engaging characters in the jazz world. His solos recorded while he was with the first Count Basie orchestra (1936-1943) are true jewels: he played with warmth, delicacy and feeling and displayed an unerring sense of construction. His taste for well-balanced and well-built tunes remained his trademark until the end, especially in his work as composer and arranger during the last years of his life (he died on December 8, 1991, at the age of 80). When these sides were recorded, Buck was at the peak of his art and was touring France with a Middle-size combo (1949) or with Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow (1953).

Vogue Records had the good idea to record him on those occasions, (he was also featured with Earl Hines and Willie "The Lion" Smith).

For the present recordings, his band was enlarged with prestigious guests. Among them was Don Byas, who had been in Paris since 1946, and was a master of the saxophone, with a smooth and velvet-like sound, and with whom Buck had played in the Basie orchestra from 1941 to 1943.

On November 28, two other guests joined Buck's septet which came to give a concert in Salle Pleyel: there was Bill Coleman, a fine trumpet player who had an elegant and fluid style like Buck, and who loved France so much that he stayed there and never returned to his native country..... ---Claude Carriere.

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