Track Listing

1. While We Danced at the Mardi Gras
2. Closer Walk with Thee
3. Columbus Stockade Blues
4. Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?
5. Fascination Medley: Fascination/Basin Street Blues/Tin Roof Blues/Way
6. China Boy (Go Sleep)
7. Bye Bye Bill Bailey
8. Lazy River
9. Yes, Indeed!
10. High Society
11. Stranger on the Shore
12. Over the Waves
13. Oh, Lady Be Good
14. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You
15. My Blue Heaven
16. Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet
17. For Pete's Sake
18. When the Saints Go Marching In
19. St. Louis Blues
20. When My Baby Smiles at Me
21. Shrimp Boats
22. (Back Home Again In) Indiana

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4272 in Music
• Brand: Verve
• Released on: 1996-05-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Though clarinetist Pete Fountain has long been a fixture on the New Orleans jazz scene, his greatest notoriety came from his 1957-1959 nationally televised appearances with the Lawrence Welk orchestra leading a small group playing traditional jazz. Fountain, a Benny Goodman disciple who plays the old standards with indefatigable fervor, is a fixture on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, leading the early morning parade down St. Charles Avenue with his "Half Fast" marching club. As Fountain walks, he plays the numbers on this record that comprise his standard repertoire--"While We Danced at the Mardi Gras," "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans," "Basin Street Blues," "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans," "When the Saints Come Marching in March" and "St. Louis Blues." --John Swenson

Customer Reviews

King of the clarinet!
You won't go wrong buying this CD! Pete's at his very best mixing jazz and dixieland in his unique style. This music will have you snapping your fingers, tapping your toes, and strutin' to the tunes. My favorite CD of Pete's.

THE TITLE SAYS IT ALL!
The only problem I have with Fountain and "the late and great" Al Hirt is they never made actual New Orleans jazz albums. And by that I mean they never played with the usual setup (A piano, trumpet\cornet, Trombone, Banjo\Guitar, Clarinet and so on) at least the albums I have by them. I still enjoy Fountain's albums though and think he is one of the best. My favorite tracks are "High Society",which is a very old New Orleans song played back in the day of Morton and maybe even before. This song has the traditional setup that I'm talking about. Pete's solo is nothing short of terrific. Then there's " Bye Bye Bill Bailey" which also is played with the traditional backup. For something differnt there's "China boy" the velocity the group plays at might not be or ever be matched. It really is "The Best of Pete Fountain"!

The Best of Pete Fountain
I have several CDs performed by Pete Fountain, three of these autographed, but this album is my favorite. It's really the best. "Fascination Medley", "Stranger on the Shore" and "Over the Waves" are fantastic performances. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find Pete's CDs in Brasil. I had never found them here. I think a few people know him here.