BLP 1201

 Sidney Bechet - Jazz Classics Volume 1

Released - 1955

Recording and Session Information

probably WMGM Radio Station, NYC, June 8, 1939
Sidney Bechet, soprano sax; Meade "Lux" Lewis, piano; Teddy Bunn, guitar; Johnny Williams, bass; Sidney Catlett, drums.

GM533-14 Summertime

Reeves Sound Studios, NYC, March 27, 1940
Sidney Bechet, soprano sax; Teddy Bunn, guitar; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Sidney Catlett, drums.

RS710 A Dear Old Southland

WOR Studios, NYC, December 20, 1944
Sidney DeParis, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Sidney Bechet, soprano sax, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Manzie Johnson, drums.

BN208-0 Blue Horizon
BN209-0 Muskrat Ramble

WOR Studios, NYC, January 29, 1945
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; George Lugg, trombone; Sidney Bechet, soprano sax, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Fred Moore, drums.

BN216-2 Salty Dog
BN217-1 Weary Blues

WOR Studios, NYC, March 10, 1945
Bunk Johnson, trumpet; Sandy Williams, trombone; Sidney Bechet, clarinet; Cliff Jackson, piano; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Manzie Johnson, drums.

BN223-1 Milenberg Joys
BN226-0 Days Beyond Recall

WOR Studios, NYC, February 12, 1946
Albert Nicholas, clarinet; Sidney Bechet, soprano sax, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN276-1 Blame It On The Blues (as Quincy Street Stomp)
BN279-2 Weary Way Blues

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Muskrat Ramble	Kid Ory	December 20 1944
Blue Horizon	Sidney Bechet	December 20 1944
Weary Blues	A. Matthews	January 29 1945
Summertime	G. Gershwin	June 9 1939
Blame It On The Blues	Charles L. Cooke	February 12 1946
Side Two
Milenberg Joys	Jelly Roll Morton	March 10 1945
Days Beyond Recall	Sidney Bechet	March 10 1945
Salty Dog	Thread-Jackson	January 29 1945
Dear Old Southland	Layton	March 27 1940
Weary Way Blues	Cox-Austin	February 12 1946

Liner Notes

IT IS POSSIBLE that there is in the world a more famous saxophonist than Sidney Bechet, though I am inclined to doubt it. It is beyond dispute that no other musicians has come within wailing distance of him on the particular saxophone of his choice, the soprano, an instrument he has virtually monopolized through most of his life.

Bechet has, of course, a second ax to grind in the clarinet, which he began to play not long after the turn of the century. Born May 14, 1897 in New Orleans, he was six years old when he borrowed his brother Leonard's instrument, and eight when he became a protégé of George Baquet, clarinetist with the John Robichaux orchestra. Bechet's career has been so fabulously colorful that it is possible in this brief space to touch only on a few of the highlights.

Bunk Johnson, one of the musicians heard with him on these sides, helped Sidney to get a job around 1912 with the famous Eagle Band of New Orleans. By that time he had gained some teen-aged experience with the local bands of Freddie Keppard, Mutt Carey and Buddy Petit. Before and during World War I he was on tour in Texas and all over the south with Clarence Williams and Louis Wade. After working in New Orleans with King Oliver and in Chicago with Tony Jackson, he migrated to New York in 1919 and joined Will Marion Cook's Southern Syncopators.

This affiliation was one of deep significance for Bechet, since it led to his first European tour, as a featured soloist with Cook's concert unit. There were many more European trips during the 1920s and '30s, once with a Negro revue that got as far East as Russia, and later with the Noble Sissle band, in which Bechet was featured off and on for a decade.

Then, in 1938, came temporary retirement. The music veteran New York drummer Danny Alvin, whose career dates business seemed to offer no substantial future; Sidney settled down with a small tailoring business in New York.

Blue Note Records played a significant role in his slow but sure climb up the ladder from inactivity to newly found global fame. It was after a major record company had refused him permission to record a certain popular song that Sidney came to Alfred Lion of Blue Note and arranged to cut the tune for this new, independent label.

The tune was recorded in June 1939. Bechet and Blue Note thrived mutually on the success of what was to earn lasting fame as one of the great Bechet performances of all time. The number, of course, was Summertime, now made available again on BLP 1201.

The 1940s saw the gradual return of Sidney Bechet to the limelight. There were frequent concerts at Town Hall, Blue Note record dates, appearances at such clubs as Nick's in Greenwich Village. Not long after the end of World War II Bechet heard Europe beckoning again. In recent years he has spent most of his time in France and has visited the U.S. only occasionally.

The music to be heard on Blue Note's first pair of 12 inch Bechet LPs covers a wide range of sessions, featuring Bechet's artistry on both soprano sax and clarinet in a variety of settings. Though the personnels vary, the results have one important element in common: they are in the New Orleans groove, with the stamp of the Crescent City in every one of the ensemble improvisations and in the individual styles of the soloists surrounding Sidney.

BLP 1201

The performance on this record was derived from six different sessions, Taking them chronologically, Summertime comes first. A soprano solo based on the Gershwin classic, it is a unique example of melodic improvisation; indeed, it was at the time of recording one of the very few great jazz solo records based on a popular song rather than on a number with jazz associations, and in this respect it became the precursor of thousands of other such performances, Today, of course, the idea of doing with commercial tunes, what Bechet did with Summertime is on accepted everyday procedure, but in 1939 it seemed slightly radical to the more tradition-bound jazz fans.

The following year, Sidney recorded Dear Old Southland, a tune also known in its Negro spiritual form as Deep River and introduced to jazz fans as a Louis Armstrong trumpet solo in 1930. Alfred Lion and Bechet anticipated the vogue for pianoless combos on this date, for the accompaniment simply comprises guitar, bass and drums.

Next in chronological sequence is Kid Ory's Muskrat Ramble in which Bechet is joined by Sidney de Paris and Vic Dickenson. De Paris' incisive, powerful trumpet and Dickenson's versatile, swinging trombone contributed greatly to the success of this session. Blue Horizon presents another classic performance by Sidney. In somber, soulful phrases he masterfully builds to an exciting climax. This is without doubt one of his greatest clarinet solos.

Milenberg Joys and Days Beyond Recall stem from the era when Bunk Johnson, retrieved from retirement in the rice fields of Louisiana, had become the centre of an increasing circle of admirers all over the country. On their only joint session, Bechet and Bunk evoke poignant memories of past New Orleans days. The interplay between Sidney's clarinet and Bunk's horn make these pieces a unique contribution to jazz history.

Weary Blues and Salty Dog (the latter has a Freddy Moore vocal) are products of a session with Max Kaminsky's trumpet and George Lugg's trombone sharing the front line. The first title is a 16-bar tune reminiscent of Farewell Blues; the second, a Ballin' The Jack type number, is familiqr to collectors who own Keppard's 1926 version.

Finally, the free-swinging up-tempo Blame It On The Blues and the lighter-rhythmed A Flat Weary Way Blues feature Albert Nicholas (himself a favorite in France during the past few years) on clarinet, Art Hodes, Pops Foster and back to 1919 and Reisenweber's Cafe.

BLP 1202

In this set again there are six different sessions involved, covering an even longer time span, from 1939 to 1951. Pounding Heart Blues and Blues For Tommy, the latter named for the New Orleans trumpeter Tommy Ladnier who had died just four days before, were made under the leadership of the late Frankie Newton on trumpet, featuring Bechet on clarinet and soprano respectively, with the gutty, full-blooded trombone of J. C. Higginbotham and the blues-oriented piano of Meade "Lux" Lewis.

Recorded some 5 1/2 years later were St. Louis Blues, with Bechet's fine clarinet solos first in chalumeau and then in higher register; and Jazz Me Blues, with its vigorous clarinet, trumpet, and trombone contributions. High Society is notable for Bechet's variations on the traditional Alphonse Picou clarinet solo and Max Kaminsky's driving trumpet, and Jackass Blues, for its well-blended ensemble work.

Up In Sidney's Flat, with a long, fine Sandy Williams trombone solo, and the traditional Lord, Let Me In The Lifeboat, are striking examples of the sympathetic vibrations between Bechet and Bunk Johnson, who sounds more at ease here than on most of his own sessions.

Old Stack O' Lee Blues team up the clarinets of Bechet and Albert Nicholas. On this Bechet original the two masters offer an excellent demonstration of the unique New Orleans clarinet style.

Most recent of the ten tunes in this collection, There'll Be Some Changes Made was cut in Nov. 1951 during one of Sidney s return visits to this country, Excellent solos by Bechet, de Paris, Pops Foster and Don Kirkpatrick are the features of this fast-moving Dixie classic.

LEONARD FEATHER
(Author of The Encyclopaedia of Jazz)
Cover Design by REID K. MILES
Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF