We’re four dear friends sharing a great love and appreciation for the music of Sidney Bechet, one of the founders of jazz and an undeniable steward of the spirit of music. It’s our hope that we’re honoring his contributions, as well as those of his peers, through dedicated study and performance and adding our own voices to this rich tradition; this deeply felt, borderless communication that brings us all together under the sun.
- Texas Moaners

Short Hop: Started as a study in writing a new piece that sounded nice and old, perhaps inspired most by Muskrat Ramble or tunes of that type. I wanted a song that sounded nice and light melodically, but with a few harmonic “goodies” underneath. Hopefully listeners agree.
- JD Pendley

Blackberry Winter: In 1997, my cousin Kate asked me to play “Indian Summer” at her wedding because she liked Sidney Bechet’s version of it.  I took it as a challenge (instead) to write something that alluded to its mood, Bechet’s style, and yet have it be about the other equinox: in the central south, “Blackberry Winter” refers to the last cold snap of the receding winter when blackberries are blooming.
- David Jellema 

Buddy Dog Boinx: Wrote this one for the album in February of 2021 while pining for the spirit that allows me to bring exuberant joy to the world. Though Bechet was on my mind, I was writing it for one my very best friends and musical co-creators, Jon Doyle. We’ve created and shared so much music together over the last 20-some years; much of it, I’m certain, fueled by the passion and drive so obvious in Bechet’s art.
Boinx? A word I learned from a dearly loved, 5 year old champion. A buoyant frolic, perhaps slightly manic; whatever, however, we’re bounding ahead with joy and hope.
Here it is, my friend, dedicated to you and to all the music and bocce games yet to come.
- Ryan Gould

Winter in my Bones was written in the early spring of 2021 when we were still mostly holed up in our homes, filled with longing for unfettered human connection, and exhausted from living with uncertainty and the weight of so much turmoil in the world. It’s meant to be an exploration of bittersweetness and a search for balance in processing so many heavy things. It’s a blues, but one that’s trying to be hopeful - acknowledging that we need to feel our way through things and we also need to look forward. To remember that the sun will rise tomorrow and it will set on today. Or as my Grandma used to say, “This will be got over.”
- Lauryn Gould

When the Sun Sets Down South is a Bechet/Sissle/Brooks composition that I found to be particularly striking, musically, and one day a set of alternate lyrics to the tune began to bubble up in my brain, so I took the liberty of singing them on this recording.
- Lauryn Gould

Dove Springs Bungalow is certainly intended as an homage to Sidney Bechet, and was inspired by his tune, “Georgia Cabin.” Since we live in a little house in the “Dove Springs” area of Austin, this seemed a fitting title. The hope with this piece was to capture a bit of the flavor of Bechet’s compositional style, as well as the breadth and depth of moods he would bring to his performances — a little relaxed effervescence in the “A” sections, then touching on grit, passion, and complexity in the bridge. And of course, a yodel that nods to our country and Western swing influences.
- Lauryn Gould

Slocum Hokum: Oh, to be in the room where Bill Johnson and Sidney Bechet played together! You know it happened. (If only in my mind … every day and every night.)
This is a nod to Bill Johnson. Lost in the rabbit hole of and inspired by recordings he made with the likes of Tampa Red, Junie Cobb, Ikey Robinson, et al., I decided to write a handful of hokum tunes very much dedicated to the energy and attitude they captured. This one caught me in a reverie of making music with sweet friends at Weiser.
- Ryan Gould

Emily: I was living in Cairo, Egypt in 1989 and in some spare time was doodling on the piano in a church at the corner of 26th of July and Ramsis Streets. I ended up shaping and titling these musings (inspired by “West End Blues”) for a dear family friend who had just died from cancer that autumn.
- David Jellema

Treat It Gently: Meant to portray a bit of melancholy that is contained in so many great melodies we know. As I composed it, I tried to picture something the great Bechet himself would play; infusing a relatively simple melody, with such emotion as to result in a powerful theme, supported by pretty but somewhat mournful harmony.
- JD Pendley


We are honored to express our gratitude to Sidney Bechet and to the musicianers who birthed and nurtured this art from then to now and moving forward.
In addition to his music, Sidney Bechet gave us all a treasure trove of wisdom and poetic philosophy on music and humanity in his autobiography, “Treat it Gentle.” That book has been extremely instrumental in our development as musicianers and humans, so we strove to acknowledge that by calling the album “Treat it Gently,” giving it a slight variation out of respect for the integrity of his original title.
A very special thank you to Mr. Daniel Bechet for your permission and encouragement to carry on with this project.
- Texas Moaners