Sidney Bechet's early life and musical development in New Orleans

Pioneering Jazz Musician, Sidney Bechet

About Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet was a pioneer jazz musician who changed the music of his time into a unique art form. Considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians of New Orleans, Bechet was an innovator on both the clarinet and saxophone. His music changed jazz music forever and inspired countless musicians of all types.

Bechet was born in New Orleans in May 1897. He was of Creole ancestry and grew up in a middle class neighborhood. He was greatly influenced by music, as his father, a shoemaker, played the flute as a hobby, and his four brothers played various instruments, as well. (Chilton)

Each of Bechet's brothers showed an aptitude for music making, although playing music was regarded as a hobby in the Bechet family, something to indulge in when their daytime work was complete. Homer was a janitor who played string bass. Albert Eugene was a butcher who played violin. Joseph was a plasterer who played guitar. Leonard was a dentist, who played the clarinet and trombone when Bechet was young. (Chilton, William)

Bechet was given his brother's clarinet when Leonard decided to concentrate on the trombone. Bechet enjoyed playing in the family's musicals, which typically consisted of mellow waltzes and quadrilles.

At the age of ten, he impressed many professional musicians, including George Baquet, a clarinetist, who offered to coach him. Bechet's clarinet playing was greatly influenced by Baquet, who coached him on his playing concerning reeds, mouthpieces, embouchure, and legato and staccato playing. Bechet also received musical guidance from professional clarinetists Alphonse Picou, Paul Chaligny and Luis Papa Tio.

Bechet credited "Big Eye" Louis Nelson as the biggest influence of his youth. Nelson played a significant role in the switch of clarinet playing from the academic approach to the uptown dancehall style.

Bechet said, "I learned myself to play by patterning my work after "Big Eye" Louis Nelson. In fact, Nelson gave me my first formal instruction on the clarinet. After I had learned the rudiments from him I had to learn the rest for myself. That's what every young person has to do." (Chilton)

When he was an adolescent, Bechet became drawn to the music played in the dance halls and brothels in the Storyville District of New Orleans. He loved to watch the jazz bands that played in the street parades and practiced his clarinet in the hopes of playing like the musicians he saw.

As his clarinet talents progresses, Bechet played in local jazz bands, such as the Young Olympians. Bunk Johnson, a legendary cornet player, who invited Bechet to join his band, the Eagle Band, recognized his music. He gained a lot of experience, playing in dance halls, and for picnics, and parties.

Local bands in New Orleans considered Bechet a child prodigy, and his style of playing clarinet and soprano sax dominated many of the bands that he was in. He played lead parts that were usually reserved for trumpets and was a master of improvisation.

Bechet joined a band led by two Louisianans, clarinetist Lawrence Duke and trumpeter "Sugar" Johnny Smith. When he joined Lawrence Duke band in 1918, he became its featured "hot man," while Duke himself concentrated on reinforcing the melody.

While performing with the band, Bechet discovered that Duke was being paid a lot more than he was and quit the band. He joined Freddie Keppard's band at the De Luxe. Bechet had established a solid reputation amongst the jazz musicians in Chicago at this point.

Bechet left New Orleans when he was 19 years old, traveling to Chicago with pianist, Clarence Williams and his variety show. Bechet's big break came in 1919 when the composer-conductor Will Marion Cook invited him to join his Southern Syncopated Orchestra for an engagement in London.

During this time, Bechet was seen by a famous Swiss conductor, Ernst Ansermet, known for conducting the music of Stravinsky for the Ballets Russa. Ansermet wrote in a Swiss musical Journal, "The extraordinary clarinet virtuoso Bechet is an artist of genius!"

Bechet said, throughout his life, that his European experiences with Cook and the Southern Syncopated Orchestra were the highlight of his life. Bechet stole the show everywhere he went. Along with trumpeter Arthur Briggs, he was the only real improviser in the band. (Chilton, Williams)

The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, was very impressed by Bechet's work and invited the Southern Syncopated Orchestra to play at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 1919, when Sidney and the SSO entertained on the grounds of the Royal Palace.

Bechet later became famous as a virtuoso of the soprano saxophone. At first, he attempted to play on a beat-up old soprano sax he bought in a pawnshop. He soon found it was extremely difficult to play the instrument in tune. Bechet quit and returned the sax to the pawnbroker.

However, a year later, Bechet invested in a brand new soprano saxophone and tried to learn again. He was successful this time. The soprano saxophone was an instrument rarely played in jazz at that time. He mastered the rather difficult instrument, and succeeded in giving the soprano saxophone a prominent place in jazz as a solo instrument.

While colleagues encouraged Bechet to stick to the clarinet, he loved the extra power the sax offered, enabling him now to dominate by both power and artistry. Referring to his preferenc for the soprano saxophone over the clarinet, he said, "I could express myself, and I had a better audience."

Bechet played both the clarinet and soprano saxophone with a broad vibrato, a characteristic that gave passion and intensity to his playing.

After polishing his soprano saxophone skills, Bechet set off to play jazz abroad. Bechet remained in Europe until late in 1922. His playing inspired the first piece of serious jazz criticism, an essay by the Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet, who praised Bechet as "an extraordinary clarinet virtuoso who is, so it seems, the first of his race to have composed perfectly formed blues on the clarinet.... form was gripping, abrupt, harsh, with a brusque and pitiless ending like that of Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto. I wish to set down the name of this artist of genius; as for myself, I shall never forget it, it is Sidney Bechet." (Williams)

In 1923, Bechet made his recording debut with Clarence Williams, appearing on several of Williams' records backing up blues singers and on a classic session with the Clarence Williams Blue Five, featuring

Louis Armstrong, whom he had know as a child in New Orleans.

Sidney's debut with Williams was well received. "Wild Cat Blues" featured Bechet from the first note right through to the final phrase of the coda. His powerful soprano sax states the three main themes after which he plays a series of telling two-bar breaks ending the tune on a boldly blown seventh note. The rest of the band, pianist Clarence Williams, cornetist Thomas Morris, trombonist John Maysfield and banjoist Buddy Christian simply functioned as accompaniment. (Chilton)

On "Kansas City Man Blues," Sidney is a strong lead throughout the first three choruses and remains a lead when Morris and Maysfield step forward in the last two choruses. Bechet displays a variety of talents in this great early jazz performance. His excellent technical skill and mastery of time contributed to a superb jazz performance.

These two performances taught many aspiring musicians the idea of jazz improvising, Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney and Lionel Hampton all claimed that they played these sides over and over again.

In 1925, he was a member of Claude Hopkin's band, accompanying a revue with Josephine Baker. He also played in bands led by Noble Sissle in London and Paris, and later, in the United States. Some of the numbers performed and recorded by Bechet with Nobel Sissle are Loveless Love, Polka Dot Rag, and Dear Old Southland. (William)

From 1925 to 1929 Bechet lived and played in Europe, playing in England, France, Germany, and Russia. While living in Paris, Bechet fought with another musician and a gun fight broke out. Three people were wounded and Sidney spent a year in a French jail as a result of the dispute. He was deported upon release from prison and went to Berlin, Germany. He could not stay in France and he would not get a visa for England so he stayed in Berlin till 1931 then joined the Noble Sissle Orchestra and returned to America.

In 1932, Bechet formed a band with trumpet player Tommy Ladnier. The band was called the New Orleans Feetwarmers. The band was unsuccessful and the pair opened a dry-cleaning business in Harlem, where Bechet turned his talents to pressing and altering clothes. (Bechet)

In 1938 he had a hit record of "

Summertime." In the 1940's, Bechet worked regularly in New York with Eddie Condon and tried to start a band with Bunk Johnson. Bechet was a popular figure of the Dixieland revival of the late 40's often recording with Mezz Mezzrow.

In 1945, he moved to Brooklyn and started teaching music to supplement his unstable musician wages. He taught a young man named Bob Wilber the rudiments of both the clarinet and soprano saxophone. After high school, Wilber moved into Bechet's house so that he could have more in-depth lessons. Today, Wilber is a leading exponent of the soprano sax and clarinet, and with his own group, the Bechet Legacy, he plays in the Bechet tradition.

Bechet returned to France in 1952 and was warmly received there. While in France he recorded several hit records, which provided fierce competition with the sales of pop records. Bechet was considered one of the great soloists of early Jazz and France provided inspiration for many of his songs, including Petite Fleur, Rue des Champs Elysees, and Si tous vois ma mere. (Chilton)

Bechet became the idol of many young musicians in France and was know far beyond the borders of the jazz world. Among his admirers were Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Genet and Orson Welles. He was the first jazz musician to sell over a million records.

He performed for enthusiastic audiences in Europe and made occasional return visits to the United States until shortly before his death from cancer in 1959.

Chapter Two: Musical Style

Sidney Bechet was a man of musical genius. His mystic qualities have been compared to those of Bach and Beethoven. His music had a poetic quality and when he played, his instruments embodied the spirit of the whole art. Critics called Bechet "the best jazz artist" in New Orleans, placing his talent and natural ear over other musicians of the area, including Louis Armstrong. (Williams)

Bechet's sound was original and had a trademark strong rhythm. His musical talent swayed the music of every band he played in. He was an instrumental virtuoso of the first magnitude. His grasp on reality and humanity are seen as strong influences in music. He lived by his own rules, despite his background and possible consequences.

Bechet maintained the jazz tradition, but adapted modern harmonic developments to it. His style is characterized by a flawless technique, an intense style of playing, a romantic melodiousness and a thrilling, slow vibrato. (Hippenmeyer)

Chapter Four: Other Instruments

While Bechet is famous for his skills on the clarinet and soprano saxophone, there is a famous jazz recording of him playing a sarrusophone on the song "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind" with the Clarence Williams Blue Five. He plays it during the introduction, and takes the first solo after the vocal, continuing beneath the trombone solo that follows. It is also prominent in the last few notes of the piece. (Horricks)

The sarrusophone, an unusual and unwieldy woodwind instrument with a double reed, never won over the public or caught the imagination of other musicians and composers. In "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind," Louis plays an obligato behind Bechet's low-note excursions on the instrument, while Charlie Irvis joins in with a trombone contribution.

Bechet also demonstrated his abilities as a cornetist, an instrument he had taught himself as well. Working with Buddy Petit and Louis Armstrong, Bechet was assigned to play the high note that ended a particular piece. He hit it perfectly, leaving Louis Armstrong, a great fan of Bechet, totally astonished.

Chapter Five: Comparing His Styles Through His Music

In "Shag," one of the earliest masterpieces of jazz improvisation, Bechet shows ideas that were unheard of until that point. The long notes from his soprano sax creating a feel of high-octane power. "Shag" is one of the first recorded jazz themes without an opening melody. Instead, the ensemble launches straight into a unique translation of "I Got Rhythm."

Bechet dominates the proceedings on Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" from his commanding soprano saxophone lead in the theme statements to the throbbing high notes with which he ends the tune. (Williams, Chilton)

Polka Dot Rag," written by Bechet and Noble Sissle's tenor saxophonist James Toliver, features a saxophone section struggling through the fast and complex first theme. The second theme has Bechet's clarinet leading the band, and the saxophones struggle once more. Tenorist James Toliver somehow finishes his solo in one piece after which Oscar Madera solos on violin. After a clarinet trio by the sax section, Sidney jumps into action with a series of staccato phrases and long arpeggios on soprano sax.

Dear Old Southland" is a tune that Bechet had performed in public for many years. Sidney starts out with a sequence of unaccompanied phrases on soprano sax before stating a beautiful rendition of the melody. Clarence Brereton contributes an effective, muted trumpet solo.

Noble Sissle's Swingsters was a band that featured Bechet with the rhythm section. In 1937, Noble Sissle's Swingsters recorded two new tracks for Irving Mills' Variety label. Sidney, backed by guitarist Jimmy Miller, bassist Jimmy Jones and drummer Wilbert Kirk, opens "Okey-Doke" on clarinet, creating subtle blue notes. He ends his performance on soprano sax, a performance that was packed with vitality and swing.

Sidney plays the clarinet during the main theme of "Blackstick," backed by Brereton's growling trumpet and Wilbert Kirk's tom-toms. Mid-performance, Bechet lowers the volume before picking up his soprano sax to wail through the final section. Sidney's clarinet states the theme of "Southern Sunset" aided by Brereton's growling plunger-muted trumpet. After a two-clarinet interlude by Bechet and White, and Harry Brooks' piano solo, Sidney changes to soprano, initially tender moving into a dramatically expressive tone to conclude the song.

Summertime" was Bechet's first best-seller. "Pounding Heart Blues" was recorded by the full septet, with Frankie Newton on trumpet and J.C.Higginbotham on trombone added, on the same date. Sidney is featured on clarinet here and produces a forceful and inventive solo full of clear, beautiful blue notes.

In the 1940's, Bechet was part of the "Jazz Revival," when jazz lovers became fascinated again with the early jazz tunes of New Orleans. The public wanted recordings of "authentic" jazz, which usually meant recordings by the classic line-up of trumpet, trombone and clarinet playing the classic New Orleans standards.

Bechet was offered a new recording contract with RCA-Victor. "Indian Summer," Victor Herbert and Al Dubin's production, became a Bechet classic. Sidney passionately takes the melody, before launching himself into a series of daring variations. Pianist Sonny White produces a piano solo in a style related to Teddy Wilson's, before Sidney ends the tune with a final chorus.

Sidney plays the clarinet in "One O'Clock Jump" in dancehall style, with Kenny Clarke's drumming complementing the tune. "Sidney's Blues" is a feature for Bechet's beautiful earthy clarinet work. He also delivers the vocal in an easygoing fashion.

Blues In The Air" is a song that was written by Bechet, which carried distinct early blues overtones, emphasised by trombonist Vic Dickenson and trumpeter Henry Goodwin's solos.

Twelfth Street Rag" is fast, energetic tune, featuring Bechet on clarinet, stating the melody while Charlie Shavers and Everett Barksdale play harmony parts and improvised phases. Bechet plays a low register clarinet.

Cake Walkin' Babies From Home" is another timeless classic jazz recording where the upbeat tempo and firm rhythm provide the perfect backdrop to some of the most memorable playing by Bechet and Armstrong on record. Louis' simple, but wonderfully swinging lead is followed by a vocal from Mrs. Williams, after which his lead is punctuated by a series of stunning soprano sax breaks from Bechet. The final rideout chorus is completely dominated by Louis, moving away from the melody and rising to a crescendo of torrid breaks.

Rose Room" proceeds in mid-tempo until Charlie Shavers wakes up the song with a trumpet break that leads into Bechet's soprano solo. "Lady Be Good" climaxes with Bechet's soprano solo, and Sid Catlett's eight-bar drum break.

Chapter Six: Literature Review

In 1918, Ansermet wrote, in the Swiss "Revue Romande":

There is in the Southern Syncopated Orchestra an extraordinary clarinet virtuoso who is, so it seems, the first of his race to have composed perfectly formed blues on the clarinet. I've heard two of them which he elaborated at great length. They are admirable equally for their richness of invention, their force of accent, and their daring novelty and unexpected turns. These solos already show the germ of a new style. Their form is gripping, abrupt, harsh, with a brusque and pitiless ending like that of Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto. I wish to set down the name of this artist of genius; as for myself, I shall never forget it -- "it is Sidney Bechet. When one has tried so often to find in the past one of those figures to whom we owe the creation of our art as we know it today -- "those men of the 17th and 18th centuries, for example, who wrote the expressive works of dance airs which cleared the way for Haydn and Mozart -- "what a moving thing it is to meet this black, fat boy with white teeth and narrow forehead, who is very glad one likes what he does, but can say nothing of his art, except that he follows his "own way" -- "and then one considers that perhaps his "own way" is the highway along which the whole world will swing tomorrow." (Chilton)

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP & Cassette describes Bechet as, "an exceptionally gifted and formally aware musician whose compositional skills greatly outshine those of Louis Armstrong, his rival for canonization as the first great jazz improviser. [...] His melodic sense and ability to structure a solo round the harmonic sequence of the original theme has been of immense significance in the development of modern jazz." (William)

Duke Ellington said of Bechet: "Bechet 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 ever to be in this music." (Kinkle)

In Berresford's book, 'The Young Sidney Bechet," he writes:

Thus the two towering figures of early jazz met for the first time on record, in what John Chilton in his scholarly biography of Bechet, 'Sidney Bechet, Wizard of Jazz', describes a the 'Duel of the Giants'.

Their first pairing was on the Clarence Williams composition "Texas Moaner Blues." Bechet opens on clarinet, weaving sinuous lines behind Louis' confident lead. After a workmanlike solo from trombonist Charlie Irvis, Louis comes in with a magnificent solo, after which Bechet, now on soprano sax, takes a solo which rises to the challenge laid down by the young cornetist.

The outpouring of genius from Bechet and Armstrong continue on the next two sides, "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" and "I'm A Little Blackbird," on which the band is joined by Clarence Williams' wife, Eva Taylor as vocalist. "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" is notable for the only example on a jazz record of a sarrusophone solo. A twin reeded instrument sounding like a cross between a bassoon and a bass saxophone, the sarrusophone was often used in the pre-electric recording era as a replacement for a double bass, which did not have the carrying power to record satisfactorily. Thus it would not be unusual for a sarrusophone to be lying around a recording studio, and one can imagine Bechet seeing one of these oddities in a corner and giving it a blow!

Although Bechet plays wonderfully throughout on both soprano sax and sarrusophone, the star of "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" is Louis his lead in the final chorus is overwhelming in its power and intensity, which comes over clearly despite his being placed some distance from the recording horn.

Chapter Seven: Summary

Sidney Bechet was unquestionably the king of the soprano saxophone and one of the most innovative and original clarinetists in jazz.

Bechet is to the saxophone what Louis Armstrong is to the trumpet. He was best known for his innovative style in jazz saxophone in the 1920's yet somehow remained somewhat of an unknown throughout his life. He was a hero in France during the late years of his life but acclaimed by America only after his death.

Bechet brought the clarinet to jazz before the saxophone but didn't like the subservient role of the clarinet. He knew that he could take the lead in any number and found that the brass-like soprano saxophone was a better weapon to do this with. The sax had a tremendous range that blew the clarinet out of the water and a wonderful capability of singing. Bechet's music is all about singing and he truly seemed to find his voice when he mastered the sax.

Another key quality that Bechel brought to jazz was his musical freedom. He was a Creole but did not share the typical Creole musician's prejudice against the driving force behind dancehall jazz. Instead, he absorbed that rhythmic aggression and matched it to his own deft instrumental technique.

He has left a profound mark in the way the clarinet and the soprano saxophone are played today in jazz. He has influenced generations of musicians including Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, as well as Bob Wilber and Branford Marsalis, who have all praised Bechet, his influence and how he tamed the soprano saxophone. Bechet was a great improviser, with a passion for life as well as music