Sidney Bechet

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. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing.
Bechet's erratic temperament hampered his career, however, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim.

Bechet (pronounced BAH-shay by the family, most commonly pronounced buh-SHAY) was born in New Orleans to a middle-class Creole of Color family. Sidney's older brother Leonard Bechet (1877-1952) was a part time trombonist and bandleader. Sidney Bechet quickly learned to play several musical instruments kept around the house, mostly by teaching himself; he soon decided to focus on clarinet. At age six, Sidney started playing along with his brother's band at a family birthday party, debuting his talents to aclaim. Later in his youth, Bechet studied with such renowned Creole clarinetists as Lorenzo Tio, "Big Eye" Louis Nelson Delisle, and George Baquet. Soon after, Bechet would be found playing in many New Orleans ensembles, improvising with what was "acceptable" for jazz at that time (obbligatos, with scales and arpeggios, and "variating" the melody). These ensembles included parade work with Henry Allen's celebrated Brass Band, the Olympia Orchestra, and John Robichaux's "genteel" dance orchestra. In 1911-1912, he performed with Bunk Johnson in the Eagle Band of New Orleans, and in 1913-1914, with King Oliver in the Olympia Band.
Although Bechet spent his childhood and adolescence in New Orleans, from 1914-1917 he was touring and traveling, going as far north as Chicago, and frequently teaming up with another famous Creole musician, Freddie Keppard. In the spring of 1919, he traveled to New York, where he joined Will Marion Cook's Syncopated Orchestra. Soon after, the orchestra journeyed to Europe where, almost immediately upon arrival, they performed at the Royal Philharmonic Hall in London. The group was warmly received, and Bechet was especially popular, attracting attention near and far.

While in London, Bechet discovered the straight soprano saxophone, and quickly developed a style quite unlike his warm, reedy clarinet tone. His saxophone sound could be described as "emotional", "reckless", and "large". He would often use a very broad vibrato, similar to what was common for some New Orleans clarinetists at the time.
After being found guilty of assaulting a woman, Bechet was imprisoned in London from September 13 to 26, 1922. He was subsequently deported back to the USA, leaving Southampton on November 3 and arriving back in New York on November 13, 1922.
On July 30, 1923, he began recording some of his earliest surviving studio work. The session was led by Clarence Williams, a pianist and songwriter, better known at that time for his music publishing and record producing. Bechet recorded the "Wild Cat Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues". "Wild Cat Blues" is in a multi-thematic ragtime tradition, with four themes, at sixteen bars each, and "Kansas City Man Blues" is a genuine 12-bar blues. Bechet interpreted and played each uniquely and with outstanding creativity and innovation for the time.

On September 15, 1925, Bechet and other members of the Revue Negre, including Josephine Baker, sailed to Europe, arriving at Cherbourg, France on September 22. The revue opened at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris on October 2. He then toured Europe with various bands, reaching as far as Russia in mid-1926. In 1928, he led his own small band at the famous Bricktop's Club in Montmartre, Paris.
Bechet was jailed  in Paris, France, when a female passer-by was wounded during a shoot-out. After serving jail time, Bechet was deported. The most common version of the story, as related in Ken Burns' jazz documentary, reports that the initial shoot-out started when another musician/producer told Bechet that he was playing the wrong chord. Bechet challenged the man to a duel; critics assert, however, that Bechet was essentially ambushed by a rival musician.
After his release, Bechet relocated back to New York. Having arrived right after the stock market crash, Bechet joined up with Noble Sissle’s orchestra and traveled around Berlin and Russia. In 1932 he returned to New York City to lead a band with trumpeter Tommy Ladnier. The band performed at The Savoy, and consisted of six members. He went on to play with Lorenzo Tia, and also got to know Roy Eldridge, another trumpeter.

Over time it became progressively more difficult for Bechet to find jobs until eventually he started a tailor shop with Ladnier. During this time they had visits from various musicians, and played in the back of their shop. Throughout the 1940s Bechet played in several bands, but his financial situation did not change until the end of that decade.
By the end of the 1940s Bechet was getting tired of playing in the United States. His contract with Jazz Limited, a Chicago based record label, was limiting the events he could perform at, such as the 1948 ‘Festival of Europe’ in Nice. He also believed that jazz scene in the US had little left to offer him and was getting stale.
Bechet relocated to France in 1950 after performing as a soloist at the Paris Jazz Fair. His performance at the fair resulted in a surge in his popularity in France. Since then, Bechet had little problem finding well paid work in France. In 1953, he signed a recording contract with French Vogue, which lasted for the rest of his life. He recorded many hit tunes, including "Les Oignons," "Promenade aux Champ Elysees," and the international hit, "Petite Fleur." He also composed a classical ballet score in the late Romantic style of Tchaikovsky, called "La Nuit est sorciere" ("The Night Is a Witch"). He married Elisabeth Ziegler in Antibes, France in 1951. Existentialists in France called him "le dieu".

Shortly before his death in Paris, Sidney dictated his poetic autobiography, Treat It Gentle. He died from lung cancer on his sixty-second birthday.
[edit]Career highlights
Bechet successfully composed in jazz, pop-tune, and extended concert work forms. He knew how to read music, but chose not to due to his highly developed inner ear; he developed his own fingering system and he never played section parts in a big band or swing-style combo.[5] 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".
In 1939, Bechet co-led a group with pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith that recorded several early versions of what was later called "Latin Jazz", adapting traditional Meringue, Rhumba and Haitian songs to the jazz idiom.
Bechet in New York in 1947

On July 28, 1940, Sidney Bechet made a guest appearance on NBC Radio's The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street show, playing two of his show-pieces ("Shake It and Break It" and "St. Louis Blues") with Henry Levine's dixieland band. Levine invited Bechet into the RCA Victor recording studio (on 24th Street in New York City), where Bechet lent his soprano sax to Levine's traditional arrangement of "Muskrat Ramble." On April 18, 1941, as an early experiment in overdubbing at Victor, Bechet recorded a version of the pop song "The 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.




Sidney Bechet (Nueva Orleans, Luisiana, Estados Unidos,14 de mayo de 1897 - París, 14 de mayo de 1959) fue un músico y compositor de jazz estadounidense. Intérprete de saxofón soprano y clarinete.
Nacido en Nueva Orleans el 14 de mayo de 1897, se inició con el clarinete a los 6 años de edad, siendo señalado por sus contemporáneos como un niño prodigio en aquel instrumento.
Integró varias bandas callejeras ("brass bands") de New Orleans. En 1917 se trasladó a Chicago, donde tocó con Freddie Keppard y Joe "King" Oliver entre otros.

En 1919 viajó a Europa junto con la Southern Syncopated Orchestra del director Will Marion Cook, dónde además de tocar clarinete, ejecutó en una pieza un pequeño acordeón. Sus presentaciones en Londres interpretando el Characteristic Blues llamaron la atención del director de orquesta Ernest Ansermet, quien le dedicó un elogiable pasaje en un artículo publicado en la revista especializada Revue Romande el cual, según se afirma, fue la primera crítica periodística sobre un músico de jazz: dónde se afirmaba "Sidney Bechet es un genio"
Estando en Londres se interesa por el saxofón soprano, instrumento que adopta y utiliza cada vez con más frecuencia que el clarinete, aunque siempre llevaba consigo un pequeño acordeón, con el cuál grabó sólo 2 piezas en 1924: "Wild Man Blues" e "Indiana".
De regreso en Estados Unidos en 1922, recaló en la ciudad de Nueva York, donde grabó su primer registro discográfico el 30 de julio de 1923, con la Clarence Williams Blue Five los temas Wild Cat Blues y Kansas City Man Blues.
Entre 1924 y 1925 realizó una serie de memorables grabaciones con Louis Armstrong, quien también se había integrado a los conjuntos de Clarence Williams dedicados a las grabaciones.
Integró la orquesta de la Revue Négre, que acompañó a París a Joséphine Baker en 1925, permaneciendo en Europa hasta 1931, visitando diversos países y pasando casi un año en una cárcel francesa en 1928, por involucrarse en una pelea entre músicos.

Tras aquel "receso" de 11 meses, siguió recorriendo Europa y regresó nuevamente a Estados Unidos, para participar brevemente en la orquesta de Nobble Sissle, y luego en 1932 formar junto al trompetista Tommy Ladnier un grupo llamado The New Orleans Feetwarmers, con el cual alcanzan a realizar sólo una sesión de grabaciones, pero con 6 títulos de notoria calidad (entre ellos Maple Leaf Rag). Luego de ello, y en medio de la crisis reinante en Estados Unidos, sumado a su escasa popularidad dada su ausencia tan prolongada del país, se ve en la necesidad de abrir una modesta sastrería en Harlem para sobrevivir.
Entre 1934 y 1938 se une nuevamente a Noble Sissle, en cuya orquesta va adquiriendo paulatinamente una participación creciente como solista (por ej. "Polka Dog Rag", 1934).
De 1938 en adelante, emprende una carrera como líder de agrupaciones diversas, enrolado dentro de la corriente del revival del jazz de Nueva Orleans, tocando y grabando en diferentes ciudades y circunstancias, produciendo abundante material en donde su saxofón soprano hacía las veces de voz líder de los conjuntos.
En 1939 realiza una serie de grabaciones para el recientemente creado sello discográfico Blue Note, de Alfred Lion, entre las que sobresale una excelente e innovadora vesión instrumental del clásico de George Gershwin "Summertime".
En 1941 realiza un experimento inédito para la época: una sesión en la que él interpreta seis instrumentos (clarinete, saxofón soprano, saxofón tenor, piano, contrabajo y batería), que son grabados uno sobre la pista del otro, para constituir la Sidney Bechet's one man band, el primer intento de grabación de un solo músico que se tenga noticia.

En 1949 viaja a Francia para participar del Festival de Jazz de París, en la Salle Pleyel. Sus interpretaciones cautivan al público francés y al año siguiente vuelve a París para establecerse allí definitivamente, convirtiéndose en una celebridad del movimiento de jazz tradicional francés, integrando las formaciones de los clarinetistas Claude Luter y André Reweliotty.
En 1951 contrae matrimonio con Elisabeth Ziegler (con quien había tenido una relación en Berlin en la década de 1920), en una ceremonia apoteósica que tuvo lugar en la villa de Juan-Les-Pins. Ese año compone uno de sus mayores éxitos, Petite Fleur (Pequeña Flor).
En 1954 nace su único hijo, Daniel, y después de casi 10 años de residencia permanente en Francia, con giras y presentaciones por toda Europa, varios discos de oro, y otros éxitos, cae enfermo de cáncer de pulmón hacia fines de 1958, falleciendo en París el 14 de mayo de 1959, el mismo día en que cumplía 62 años.