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
GHB/
Jazzology, so this never samples
Lewis' material for
Decca or
Blue Note or any other label that falls outside of this purview, but this is a sharp distillation of some of
Lewis' 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
