go

Sidney Bechet: Jazz Immortal Largely self taught, the prodigiously talented reedman Sidney Bechet developed one of the most distinctive solo voices in jazz. Unlike fellow New Orleans jazzman Louis Armstrong, Bechet never achieved stardom in the United States. Program Audio

Largely self taught, the prodigiously talented reedman Sidney Bechet developed one of the most distinctive solo voices in jazz. Unlike fellow New Orleans jazzman Louis Armstrong, Bechet never achieved stardom in the United States. Broadway's Vernel Bagneris joins The Jim Cullum Jazz Band and soprano sax legend Bob Wilber this week on Riverwalk Jazz to explore the two sides of jazz immortal Sidney Bechet.

Born in 1897 in New Orleans, Bechet mastered the clarinet when he was ten years old, and played in the Eagle Band which he described as "the only band around that could play the low down blues." He moved to Chicago in 1917, and five years later he was featured on a series of ground-breaking recordings with Louis Armstrong, known as Clarence Williams Blue Five.

From 1925 to '29 Sidney Bechet performed throughout England, France, Germany and Russia. In Paris, Bechet was brawling with another musician when a gun fight broke out. Three people were wounded and Sidney spent a year in a French jail. In 1931, he was deported back to America.

He worked and recorded throughout the 30s and 40s in groups with Tommy Ladnier, Mezz Mezzrow and Eddie Condon. Then in 1945, Bechet began teaching music in Brooklyn and high school student Bob Wilber, pictured below right on clarinet, became his star pupil. A legend on soprano saxophone and clarinet in the style of Bechet, Wilber lends his talents to this week's radio show.

Also on the bill, is clarinetist Evan Christopher, a disciple of New Orleans clarinet style. Actor Vernel Bagneris presents scenes from Sidney Bechet's life—told in Bechet's own words—from his autobiography Treat It Gentle, published by DaCapo Press.

Sidney Bechet did not find the success he craved until very late in life. Though he recorded and performed widely in the United States, he never earned the money or recognition he hoped for at home. Everything changed in June, 1950 when he returned to France, and found a new, young audience eager to embrace his music and make him a star. People waited in long lines at every concert. The stocky silver-haired Bechet was suddenly a celebrity, and made France his home for the rest of life.

Text based on script by Margaret Pick
Copyright 2012 Riverwalk Jazz

Riverwalk is sponsored by: