 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2007-05-02 13:33
While eating our Chicken Melamine for dinner last night, my husband and I watched a 1997 documentary, "Sidney Bechet: Treat It Gentle," on the Ovation cable channel. Since Ovation re-runs things over and over, there's a good chance of a re-airing soon, and the program is well worth watching. Bechet, a clarinet and soprano sax jazz man from New Orleans, is less well known to audiences in his native country than many of his contemporaries, because he spent most of his career in France. In the first half of the 20th century, an African American musician got more respect and a better income over there than over here.
The documentary includes many clips of Bechet playing. His shrill tone competes well with the brasses (including Louis Armstrong's trumpet--those two had mixed feelings about each other...). Bechet influenced other clarinet players in jazz to emphasize projection and move away from the mellower, Big Band sound. From looking at him strain, I get the impression he must have played on brutally hard reed. Sometimes there's too much banshee squeal or too much billy-goat vibrato in Bechet's sound for my personal taste, but it's an exciting sound in its rightful context, and the man could play.
One clip in particular shows him holding a note so long he'd almost have to be circular breathing--except he looks as if he's playing that whole stretched-out, loud, high-pitched wail on one breath. The clips that startle me the most, in the context of Bechet's tremendous breath control, show him smoking cigarettes!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
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Author: FrankM
Date: 2007-05-02 13:45
That documentary is excellent, and I agree about the long held note....He made it look like he did it with one breath !
I never realized what a true giant Bechet was until I saw Ken Burns "History of Jazz" on PBS several years ago, and read a biography about him.
His solos were way ahead of most of his contemporaries ( except Armstong, of course). I suppose it may have had something to do with the time he spent in Europe, but I'm suprised his contributions to jazz are generally not that well known in the US.
Actually, listening to Bechet opened my ears to lots of the old time reed players. The more I listen to those guys ( Johnny Dodds for one) the more I realize jazz didn't start with swing and bebop!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-05-02 14:47
TKS, Lelia, I'll see if I can find it again, I do somewhat recall the "Jazz" showings of S B. I still treasure a long-ago "visit" to the NYC's Village where Eddie Condon's band [Edmund -----?] played the oldies !! My AOL-Google search turned up much info of interest, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2007-05-02 14:47
I played Bechet's "Petite Fleur" at my mother-in-law's burial. It was just the right music; I don't think he is given enough credit for his compositions these days!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-05-02 15:20
Well said, Larry, perhaps a "revival? Thinking of N O's Preservation Hall and ?Wiley Humphrie [sp?] ?, reminded me that Edmund's name is/was? Hall. Ah, the "good ole dazes", Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-05-02 15:25
In the movie, "Chocolate," the sound track cribs some great Sidney Bechet playing. Unfortunately, the CD that purports to be the "sound track" from the movie excludes all of the Bechet contributions.
Bob Phillips
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