Take Two
Where we take two different jazz interpretations of a song
Basin Street Blues
Basin Street Up The Line
Now won't you come along with me
To the Mississippi?
We'll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans
The band is there to meet us
Old friends to greet us
That's where the line and the dark folks meet
A heaven on earth, they call it Basin Street
Basin Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, was the heart of the Storyville red-light district. Running parallel to Rampart Street, it was famously immortalized by Spencer Williams, who wrote the Basin Street Blues. in 1928. Louis Armstrong recorded the song that same year. "Up the Line" describes the entirety of the Storyville district - the "line" of saloons, brothels, and cafes where early jazz musicians found regular work and "where the folks all meet". There was a rail terminal and freight office in New Orleans for the Southern Railway and New Orleans Terminal Company, and "the Line" could also refer to the railroad.
Our first take features Jack Teagarden and Louis Armstrong in the 1951 film The Strip:
Our second take comes from the Keith Jarrett Trio - Keith Jarrett (piano); Gary Peacock (double-bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums). They were in Tokyo in July 1993 and this was one of their numbers from a concert at Open Theater East:
I said, Basin Street, Basin Street
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You'll never know how nice it seems
Or just how much it really means
Just to be, yes, siree, in New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues
Basin Street Down The Line
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2026.5