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Sidney Bechet
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Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
He was one of the first important soloists in jazz (beating cornetist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong to the recording studio by several months and later playing duets with Armstrong), and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist of any sort. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing.
Bechet's mercurial temperament hampered his career, however, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim.
et was born in New Orleans.
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Encyclopedia
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
He was one of the first important soloists in jazz (beating cornetist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong to the recording studio by several months and later playing duets with Armstrong), and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist of any sort. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing.
Bechet's mercurial temperament hampered his career, however, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim.
Biography
Bechet was born in New Orleans. From a young age, Bechet quickly mastered any musical instrument he encountered. Some New Orleanians remembered him as a cornet hot-shot in his youth. At first he decided on the clarinet as his main instrument and Bechet remained one of jazz's greatest clarinetists for decades. The clarinetist Jimmie Noone, who became famous in his own right, took lessons from Bechet when the latter was only thirteen-years old. Despite his prowess on clarinet, Bechet became best remembered as the first great master of the soprano saxophone.
Bechet had experience playing in traveling shows even before he left New Orleans at the age of twenty. Never long content in one place, he alternated using Chicago, New York, and Europe as his base of operations. Bechet was jailed in Paris, France when a female passerby was wounded during a pistol duel (which Bechet had instigated in an argument over chord changes); after serving jail time, Bechet was deported.
He continued recording and touring, although his success was intermittent.
Bechet relocated to France in 1950. He married Elisabeth Ziegler in Antibes, France in 1951. Existentialists in France called him "le dieu".
Shortly before his death in Paris, Bechet dictated his poetic autobiography, Treat It Gentle. He died from lung cancer on his
.
Career highlights
Bechet successfully composed in jazz, pop-tune, and extended concert work forms. He never learned to read music, he developed his own fingering system, and he never played section parts in a big band or swing-style combo. His recordings often have been reissued.
Some of the highlights of his career include 1923 sides with Louis Armstrong in "Clarence Williams Blue Five"; the 1932, 1940, 1941 "New Orleans Feetwarmers" sides; a 1938 "Tommy Ladnier Orchestra" session ("Weary Blues", "Really the Blues"); a hit 1938 recording of "Summertime"; and various versions of his own composition, "Petite Fleur".
On April 18, 1941, as an early experiment in overdubbing at RCA Studios on 24th street in New York City, Bechet recorded a version of the pop song "Sheik of Araby", playing six different instruments: clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. A theretofore unissued master of this recording was included in the 1965 LP Bechet of New Orleans, issued by RCA Victor as LPV-510. On the liner notes, George Hoeffer quotes Sidney as follows: "I started by playing The Sheik on piano, and played the drums while listening to the piano. I meant to play all the rhythm instruments, but got all mixed up and grabbed my soprano, then the bass, then the tenor saxophone, and finally finished up with the clarinet."
In 1944, 1946, and 1953 he recorded and performed in concert with Chicago Jazz Pianist and Vibraphonist Max Miller, private recordings which are part of the Max Miller archive and have never been released. These concerts and recordings are covered completely in John Chilton's great book on Bechet.
Bechet was an important influence on alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who studied with Bechet as a teenager.
In 1968, Bechet was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
The New York Times music writer Robert Palmer wrote of Bechet that, "by combining the 'cry' of the blues players and the finesse of the Creoles into his 'own way,' Sidney Bechet created a style which moved the emotions even as it dazzled the mind."
Tributes
Renowned blues harmonica player Sugar Blue claims to have taken his name from the Bechet recording "Sugar Blues".
Philip Larkin wrote an ode to Bechet in The Whitsun Weddings.
Bechet is said to have served as a prototype for the saxophonist "Pablo" in the novel Steppenwolf, since it was almost certainly through listening to his playing in Europe in the 1920s that Hermann Hesse became acquainted with the world of jazz music.
Bechet to me was the very epitome of jazz... everything he played in his whole life was completely original. I honestly think he was the most unique man to ever be in this music. — Duke Ellington
In the 1997 documentary Wild Man Blues, filmmaker and clarinet aficionado Woody Allen repeatedly refers to Sidney Bechet. One of his adopted children with Soon-Yi Previn also is named Bechet.
Bechet, portrayed by Jeffrey Wright appeared as a character in two episodes of the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
Bechet performs at an underground Paris jazz club in the novel Replay by Ken Grimwood. This appearance is slightly anachronistic, as the scene takes place in 1963 even though Bechet died in 1959.
Sources
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