The Cannonball Jazz Library 7: Sidney Bechet.

The very early recordings of Sidney Bechet make the next entry to the Cannonball Jazz Library. Essential listening as Bechet was the only early jazz stylist who could hold a candle to the talent of Louis Armstrong. Clicking the album cover will take you to the library.

Here's a short video on the Bechet's early career. Some of the stuff regarding the arrest in Paris is probably anecdotal at best but it gives a glimpse into his genius.

Sidney Bechet, Tommy Ladnier & The New Orleans Feetwarmers

Before delving back into the Swing Era, I’d like to take a look at some of the work of one of jazz’s most important figures - Sidney Bechet. Bechet was one of the people that I highlighted somewhere around the beginning of this blog, a pivotal figure in bringing the original New Orleans sound to the industrial cities in the north. He was, at the time, the only guy who could hold a candle to the solos and improvisations of Louis Armstrong in the 1920’s. When I spoke of him last he had finished up some recordings with Clarence Williams (including some great stuff with Armstrong) and had taken to the road in Europe never to set foot into the recording studio for the rest of the decade. Click the link above for a refresher.

The 1930’s were, however, to prove lean times for Bechet. He hooked up with The Noble Sissle Orchestra on his travels, playing with them through Europe and later in the States. The songs he played on with that band are not strictly jazz, they were more in keeping with the sweet pop tunes of the time. However the work provided a steady enough pay packet for him during the difficult times of the Great Depression.

More notably for us was the collaboration with his friend and fellow New Orleanian, Tommy Ladnier, in forming The New Orleans Feet Warmers. Together they produced an absolutely scintillating set of tunes during a recorded session in 1932.

Sidney Bechet:

Tommy Ladnier:

Here is the highlight of those sessions – “Shag”.

Raucus, freewheeling, uninhibited and showcasing the spectacular improvisational talents of Sidney Bechet, this has to be one of the most important songs in jazz history. It is obviously rooted in the New Orleans and Chicago styles that each of the band members would have all been very familiar with. But the song clearly utilises the new jazz rhythm section that was coming out of Kansas City (for example, a piano solo recorded in the 1920's would have had to be recorded in isolation, here the solo is augmented with bass and drums). Also prevelant is Wilson Myers' superb scat singing, highlighting the influence Louis Armstrong was having over practically all vocal styles post the Hot 5 & 7 recordings. The width of Bechet’s vibrato on the soprano sax is truly extraordinary. His solos mercilessly soar in, out, above and over the track. Check it out. True jazz.

Unfortunately the band was to be shortlived as they weren't received well commercially. Ladnier and Bechet turned their hand to opening a tailor shop in Harlem. Unsurprisingly it wasn't a success (perhaps due to the proprieters' propensity to indulge in all night jam sessions..).

Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet can only be really described as a giant in the world of jazz. He was born at the turn of the century in the musical melting pot that was New Orleans and was therefore exposed first hand to the musical advancement that was taking place. He was a child prodigy and a renowned clarinet player by his early teens. He was also to prove instrumental in bringing the saxophone to the forefront of jazz (it previously being seen as an unwieldy, novelty instrument).



Like most of his contemporaries, Bechet headed for the bright lights of Chicago and hooked up with Clarence Williams, Freddie Keppard and King Oliver. He was one of the first musicians to see the rising popularity of jazz in Europe and so travelled to France and Britain in the early 20's, to great acclaim. He appears to have been something of a wild man and was deported back to the States after an altercation with the law. Back in the States, with a soprano sax in tow that he had picked up in London, he eventually began working again with Clarence Williams and making his first recordings.

It is in these recordings made from 1923 to 1925 that Bechet's musicianship can be seen. The vibrato that emanates from his clarinet and sax could be seen as both violent and extremely soulful. It's safe to say that no-one at the time had heard anything like it. The influence of the blues can clearly be heard in his playing and he is happy to push the boundaries away from the ensemble style of jazz that was prevelant at the time. In fact these recordings were made a few months before Louis Armstrong and King Oliver made their seminal jazz recordings in Richmond, Indiana.

Here are the first recordings, "Wild Cat Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues". Note Bechets' dominance on these tracks.




However it should be noted that Bechet and Armstrong were actually friends and knew each other from their early days in New Orleans. Luckily for us Clarence Williams had the nous to organise a recording session involving both of them in what one Bechet biographer has termed the "Duel of the giants". I personally dislike the term. What I hear in these recordings are two artists who have great respect for each other but are willing to push each other on and get the ultimate out of their instruments. As we have seen before, Louis Armstrong was no shrinking violet even in the presence of his mentor, King Oliver.

Here's "Texas Moaner Blues". It opens with Bechet on the clarinet. Armstrong's cornet solo is typically strong and lays down the challenge to Bechet's soprano sax for the final bars.



"Mandy Make Up Your Mind". The only known jazz song with a sarrusophone solo - a kind of cross between a bassoon and a bass saxophone. This musical oddity was primarily used in the pre electic era as a replacement for the double bass which was difficult to hear and record. Bechet gives it a go!



Finally, check out "Cake Walkin' Babies From Home", another great example of how well the two pioneers in jazz gelled so well.



Unfortuantely Bechet was not to record again for the rest of the 20's. He became briefly involved with Duke Ellington's Washingtonians band but his wanderlust appears to have been insatiable. He travelled on from the States to Europe to play in France, Britain and as far as Russia. He wasn't to achieve the success that Louis Armstrong enjoyed in America but he was highly regarded in Europe, particularly in France, where he eventually settled. His influence in jazz is considerable - from Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane and beyond.