| SIDNEY
BECHET (ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)
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 mercurial temperament hampered his career, however, and not
until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim.
Bechet (pronounced buh-SHAY) was born in New Orleans to a wealthy
Creole family. "Discovered" at the age of six, Sidney Bechet quickly
learned the clarinet by picking up his brother's horn and teaching
himself. At a family birthday party, Bechet debuted his newly
acquired talents. Later in his youth, Bechet studied with such
renowned Creole clarinetists as Lorenzo Tio, "Big Eye" Louis Nelson,
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). 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. The
group was warmly received, and Bechet was especially popular,
attracting attention near and far.
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.
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.
Bechet returned to New York from Europe in 1922, and on July 30,
1923, 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.
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, Sidney dictated his poetic
autobiography, Treat It Gentle. He died from lung cancer on his
sixty-second birthday.
(Info edited
fromWikipedia) |
