Bechet, Sidney 1897–1959

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Sidney Bechet 1897–1959

Musician

Toured Europe

Discovered Saxophone

Returned to Europe

Musical Reputation Grew

Selected discography

Selected writings

Sources

Sidney Bechet was known as the master of the saxophone. Though his musical career began with the clarinet, he turned to the saxophone and the rest is history. Bechet played in jazz clubs all over the South in his early days, but became famous in Europe, particularly France. His musical life, however, was not upstaged by his personal life. From failed marriages to run-ins with the law, Bechet truly led the life of a jazz musician.

Bechet was born on May 14, 1897 in New Orleans, Louisiana to a black Creole family. His father Omar was educated in a private school so he spoke and wrote both Creole Patois and English. His mother Josephine was black, but was referred to as a passeblanc. Bechet grew up in a middle-class family as the youngest of five boys. His father was a maker of fine shoes.

Bechet began playing the clarinet by practicing with his brother Leonard’s when he thought no one would hear him. He claimed to have been taught by legendary New Orleans musicians George Baquet, Big Eye Louis Nelson, and Lorenzo Tio. Whoever his teachers were, Bechet took to the coronet and the clarinet. By his early teens, he was playing in both children’s bands and with older musicians. At the age of 14, much to his parents’ chagrin, Bechet began to play music for a living getting home at dawn and talking about getting married as an adult musician would. Finally his parents stipulated that whoever booked the young Bechet had to provide a ride to and directly from the show. He began to travel around as a musician at the age of 16 and went on tour with Clarence Williams throughout the deep South. By 1916 Bechet had played as far away as Chicago.

In 1917 the U.S. Navy closed the famous New Orleans brothel district called Storyville. This act by the government, along with the growing industrialization of big cities across the northern part of the United States and the poor pay down South, caused a dispersal of musicians from the New Orleans area. And Bechet was one of the wanderers.

Toured Europe

Bechet was 21 and playing in Chicago when Will Marion

At a Glance…

Born Sidney Bechet, May 14, 1897 in New Orleans, LA; died May 14, 1959 in Paris, France; Son of Omar (a shoemaker) and Josephine Bechet; was married to Elisabeth at time of death; Children: Daniel (by mistress Jaqueline).

Carrer: Began playing in and around New Orleans at the age of 14 with his brothers in the Silver Bell Band; left New Orleans for Chicago in 1916; Toured Europe as a featured soloist with the Southern Syncopated Orchestra; began recording with Clarence Williams in 1923; joined Duke Ellington’s band for a short time in 1924; Opened Club Basha in 1925; Toured Europe 1925-30; Recorded and toured with Noble Sissle’s orchestra 1931-38; played at Jazz ltd. in Chicago in 1948; Moved to France in 1950; Toured and recorded throughout Europe 1950-58.

Cook, a well-known black composer and band leader, discovered him and took him to New York. By 1919 Bechet had left Cook’s orchestra and was playing with Brymm’s Black Devils. He was persuaded to rejoin the orchestra and tour Europe as part of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra when Cook threatened to sue him for breach of contract. Bechet was the featured soloist and the group’s only pure jazz player. Ernest Ansermat, a noted conductor from Switzerland, was in London to conduct the orchestra of the Ballet Russe. James Lincoln Collier reported in his book, The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History that after seeing Bechet, Ansermat said: “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 wish to set down the name of this artist of genius, as for myself, I shall never forget it—it is Sidney Bechet.” Aside from isolated moments performing, the tour did not go smoothly and Cook went home to the United States twice. The tour experienced attendance problems and some of the musicians were going unpaid.

Discovered Saxophone

Bechet stayed in Europe for two years and played in one of the splinter groups from Cook’s orchestra led by Benny Payton. The band mainly played in London, Paris, and Brussels. During this period there was a significant development for Bechet as an individual performer and for jazz music in general. Bechet discovered the soprano saxophone. At that time the saxophone was considered more of a novelty instrument and was not taken seriously by accomplished musicians. Despite this drawback, or perhaps because other people did not like to play it, he mastered the straight saxophone quickly and became the instrument’s first great player. Though he did continue to play the clarinet, Bechet became known almost completely as a saxophone player. He won some notoriety as both an excellent soloist and a pioneer on the saxophone. Bechet also cemented his reputation as being somewhat hot-headed and difficult. In London he had a conflict with a prostitute which landed him in prison and eventually caused him to be expelled from the country on November 3, 1922.

In 1923 Bechet made his first recordings with the noted composer and arranger Clarence Williams. He appeared as part of the Clarence Williams Blue Five and overshadowed all the other members of the band, including a young Louis Armstrong. He was a soughtafter session man and played with Bessie Smith (which led to a brief affair). Bechet even joined Duke Ellington’s band for a short time.

Though his tenure with Ellington’s group was limited because of his inability to get along with the other musicians, Bechet had a great influence on the band. In The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History, Ellington had this to say about Bechet: “I consider Bechet the foundation. His things were all soul, all from the inside. It was very, very difficult to find anyone who could really keep up with him.… Of all musicians Bechet to me was the very epitome of jazz. He presented and executed everything that had to do with the beauty of it all and everything he played in his whole life was completely original.… He was a truly great man and no one has ever been able to play like him.” Bechet’s lack of discipline and problems being on time got him into trouble with Ellington. One time he brought his german shepard with him to a practice. Ellington was able to overlook much of Bechet’s personal eccentricities because of his unmatched brilliance on the saxophone, but one time when he disappeared for three days and then told Ellington he was in a cab, his time as a member of Ellington’s band was over. Bechet at this time in his life in the early twenties was considered the best horn player in jazz.

Returned to Europe

In 1925 Bechet opened his own jazz club with a partner called Club Basha, but that relationship was short-lived because the two men got into a dispute over money. By September of 1925, Bechet joined Will Marion Cook’ latest project, ‘The Black Review,’ which included a young and unknown Josephine Baker. The orchestra journeyed to Paris, but the company did not last and Bechet formed a splinter group spending two years touring Brussels, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Egypt, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. In 1928 he returned to Paris and joined Noble Sissle’s Orchestra as a soloist and also found time to write his first composition, “The Negro Rhapsody.”

Another significant development was that Bechet met a young French girl named Elisabeth and wrote a letter to his brother Leonard informing him that he was going to be married. Unfortunately, before any marriage took place, Bechet had another run-in with the law. According to one account, Bechet was playing in a band with Mike McKendrick and the two started arguing about the way a song should be played. McKendrick pulled a gun and Bechet quickly left, but returned and waited for McKendrick outside of another bar. When the banjo player exited the bar, Bechet ambushed him and began shooting while McKendrick returned fire. Three people were wounded and both men were sent to prison. Bechet spent 11 months in jail. He was supposed to go back to the United States immediately, but he was in the process of divorcing his first wife Norma and believed it would be inconvenient to return just then. Bechet decided to go to Berlin in 1926, but returned to the United States when he got an offer to play with Noble Sissle’s band.

Musical Reputation Grew

Bechet played in Sissle’s orchestra throughout the thirties, even going back to France for a short time. During the thirties Bechet performed and recorded with many noted jazz players including Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, and Eddie Condon. But the 1930s were not good times for small jazz bands because of the dominance of big bands and the changing musical tastes during the Depression, so Bechet temporarily retired. He opened a tailor shop in New York, but that was dropped quickly after his first offer to play again— pressing pants was not part of Bechet’s ultimate destiny. He rejoined Sissle in 1934 and traveled and recorded with his band until 1938. Bechet enjoyed a growing reputation towards the latter part of the thirties and also a relatively tranquil personal life traveling with his new wife Marilouise. He left Sissle’s band without a new gig, but quickly moved back to New York to play regularly at Nick’s Tavern until May of 1940. Bechet had been playing with several different bands and recorded with RCA Victor until the company did not renew his contract. Bechet wanted to record George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” but had little success with the major labels. Finally a small jazz label called Blue Note agreed to record Bechet’s version of the classic song. The record became a jazz hit and helped propel Bechet back into the limelight.

During the early part of the Forties, Bechet was busy playing jazz concerts, doing radio programs, and recording for Blue Note. He lived in Brooklyn with his girlfriend Laura and in addition to his performances earned money from royalties. After World War II, Bechet opened a music school where he tutored many young jazz players such as Bob Wilbur. Bechet regularly played with Eddie Condon, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow and attempted to start his own band with Bunk Johnson. In 1948 Bechet went to Chicago to play at a club called Jazz Ltd. and spent the winter there. When he returned to Brooklyn for what amounted to a summer vacation his relationship with Laura had ended.

Bechet traveled back to France in May of 1949 and was besieged by fans and admirers. His performance at the 1949 Salle Pleyel Jazz Festival in Paris solidified his reputation as a jazz master. He stayed in France for just a short time, but the welcome he received made a large impression on him. In the fall of 1949 he returned to Chicago to play at Jazz Ltd. for another season, but his heart was not in it. He quickly returned to New York and then to France under the threat of legal action because he had broken his contract with the owners of Jazz Ltd. He returned to the United States in November to patch up his legal affairs and then returned to France, this time for good on June 5, 1950. To his surprise Bechet found that he was a national celebrity. He immediately began recording and touring. In 1951 he toured Scandinavia, Belgium, and North Africa. While in Algeria, he met a woman from his past.

He somehow ran into his old fiancé Elisabeth and the two rekindled their romance which ended up with Bechet proposing marriage. On August 17, 1951 the couple were married at the Cannes Town Hall in a ceremony which included doves, a parade, floats, jazz bands, and a twelve-foot model of a saxophone. Bechet stayed home after the honeymoon for just a short time and then toured England and the United States. He played in Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Boston. He was forced to return to France in December of 1951 because he had developed a stomach ulcer. He was scheduled to have surgery, but the rest improved his condition and the operation was postponed. He resumed recording and playing only a month later in 1952 and continued through 1954.

On April 3, 1954, Bechet got a telegram in Lucerne, Switzerland that he had fathered a son by his mistress Jacqueline Pekaldi back in Paris. Despite his health and his son Daniel, Bechet was back out on the road touring through 1955. By 1956 his record sales in France were comparable with pop music stars. He seemed to have slowed down somewhat in 1957 and 1958, but he still continued to travel all over Europe. He lived in Paris with Jacqueline and their son on the north side of Paris, but he still saw his wife Elisabeth quite often who lived on the south side of the city in a town called Gringy. The idea of divorce was never mentioned.

In 1959 Bechet’s health took a turn for the worse and it was soon evident that he would have to stop his traveling altogether. He became very sick with cancer and died on May 14, 1959. Bechet’s highly colorful autobiography, Treat It Gentle, was published in 1960. In it Sidney Bechet described his feelings for music: “That’s one of the things that make it why a musicianer, if he’s real serious about the music, has to have this place inside himself. You’ve got to say that to yourself … ’I’ve got the music and I don’t give a damn for the rest. Rich or poor, the music is there and that’s what I’m for.’”