Bechet was Born into a Creole musical family in 1897 during a period in New Orleans musical history when all the critical ingredients were coming together to create what would later be called jazz. Young Sidney was so enamored by his older brother's ability to play instruments that he often imitated their actions using household objects.
Sidney Bechet left his hometown of New Orleans for good in 1917 and arrived in Chicago the following year.There he joined Will Marion Cook's band which took him to Europe for the first time near the end of World War I. In London he eyed a soprano saxophone which quickly became his instrument of choice.
Dark side and all, the genius of Sidney Bechet manifested itself in many ways. From the adoration of the French for his passionate sentimentality and brilliant musicianship, to his huge role in the development of jazz music from 1920 until his death in 1959.
As Bechet continued to cement his reputation as jazz's finest clarinet and soprano saxophone player, he spent extended amounts of time performing and living in Europe, eventually rising to hero status in France. Parisians were especially enthralled with his passionate and sentimental playing and found his New Orleans Creole accent charming.
saxophoneBechet was the first jazz musician to embrace the 'skinny' saxophone, which tended to sound out of tune in its higher register. He compensated for the instrument's flaws with an operatic vibrato, or wavering tone which became his specialty.
soprano saxophoneSidney Bechet, (born May 14, 1897, New Orleans—died May 14, 1959, Paris), jazz musician known as a master of the soprano saxophone.
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, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong....Sidney BechetInstrumentsClarinet, soprano saxophoneYears active1908–19576 more rows
Musically educated on the streets and cabarets of New Orleans, clarinetist and alto-saxophonist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) emerged as a major exponent of early jazz. He was to the alto-saxophone what Louis Armstrong had been to the trumpet.
soprano saxophoneBechet started out on clarinet and later, in the early 1920s, discovered the soprano saxophone — an instrument rarely heard in jazz at that time. He mastered the rather difficult instrument, and succeeded in giving the soprano saxophone a prominent place as a solo instrument in jazz.
Soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet was one of the most important soloists of early jazz. Together with Louis Armstrong, he was the first to develop the loose, fluid rhythmic style that set jazz apart from ragtime and that came to be known as “swinging.”
He played clarinet in the Young Olympians and was so good that Bunk Johnson, the famous cornettist, invited him, sometime between 1911 and 1913, to play in his own Eagle Band, which played dance halls, parties, and picnics, and soon Sidney was featured by some of the top combos in the city.
Sidney Bechet was a unique figure in jazz history. A masterful soprano-saxophonist and clarinetist, he recorded the first significant jazz solos (other than pianists).
Armstrong had been playing an earlier version of a Selmer trumpet since 1932. Even though he believed you could play a trumpet for a long time, he had the habit of playing his trumpets for approximately five years before he passed it on as a gift to a friend or colleague.
The 1924 recording of “Cake Walking Babies from Home” features Sidney Bechet (1897–1959), the great clarinet and soprano saxophonist, playing soprano saxophone with Louis Armstrong. At that time, the two men were the only jazz musicians who were famous nationally for virtuosity on their instruments.
CornetBix BeiderbeckeGenresJazz DixielandOccupation(s)Musician, ComposerInstrumentsCornet, PianoYears active1924–316 more rows
Kid Ory, byname of Edward Ory, (born Dec. 25, 1886, Laplace, La., U.S.—died Jan. 23, 1973, Honolulu, Hawaii), American trombonist and composer who was perhaps the first musician to codify, purely by precept, the role of the trombone in classic three-part contrapuntal jazz improvisation.
In London he eyed a soprano saxophone which quickly became his instrument of choice. Bechet was the first jazz musician to embrace the 'skinny' saxophone, which tended to sound out of tune in its higher register. He compensated for the instrument's flaws with an operatic vibrato, or wavering tone which became his specialty. Jazz, to Bechet, "wasn't spirituals or blues or ragtime, but everything all at once, each one putting something over on the other". This poetic understanding of the music was reflected in Bechet's uncanny ability to display the pulsating vibrato, reminiscence of his favorite vocal tenors, and use it to stir up a impassioned, blues-laden mix. His technical ability allowed him to fire rapid successions of notes as if from a gun, while utilizing the full range of his instrument-from the lowest note to the highest one. The soprano saxophone, once merely a novelty instrument, now served as an even greater extension of Bechet's personality.
Bechet was Born into a Creole musical family in 1897 during a period in New Orleans musical history when all the critical ingredients were coming together to create what would later be called jazz. Young Sidney was so enamored by his older brother's ability to play instruments that he often imitated their actions using household objects.
Dark side and all, the genius of Sidney Bechet manifested itself in many ways. From the adoration of the French for his passionate sentimentality and brilliant musicianship, to his huge role in the development of jazz music from 1920 until his death in 1959. He was often referred to as an instrumental peer to Louis Armstrong (and competitor) and considered among the 4 most influential jazz musicians during the music's first 50 years (Along with Buddy Bolden, Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton). Bechet possessed the ability to call upon spirits of his enslaved ancestors who danced in New Orleans' Congo Square or appeal to the most courtly of opera fans with dazzling technique and range. Whether wringing emotion out of a slow blues drag, or making folks get up and dance with his mastery of hot rhythms, Bechet's fiery temperament was always on display through his instrument. It's almost as if his soul was revealed through the sounds that came out of the bell of his horn. Bechet also serves as a reminder that no matter how confident one may feel, there may always be something lurking around the corner, something better left avoided. Maybe we had better enjoy the music while we can. Sidney Bechet did.
Indeed, the music was not just notes on paper to Bechet; for he always had refused to learn to read music for fear that it would hamper his ability to improvise.
Bechet was sometimes attracted to violent gangster figures and often this darker side of the man revealed itself through devilish twists and turns on the soprano. Bechet's ability to display a melancholy seriousness on his instrument remained as ever-present throughout his career as the handgun he often toted.
Sidney Bechet did. If you would like to learn more about the legendary jazz pioneer Sidney Bechet, check out the autobiography Treat it Gentle, and John Chilton's book entitled Sidney Bechet : The Wizard of Jazz. To experience Bechet's influence on jazz music today, get out and hear the real thing.
Bechet was the first jazz musician to embrace the 'skinny' saxophone, which tended to sound out of tune in its higher register. He compensated for the instrument's flaws with an operatic vibrato, or wavering tone which became his specialty.