A TRIBUTE TO SIDNEY BECHET
( 1897 – 1959 )
A clarinetist and a composer , who was the first ,
To introduce a thin oboe-like Soprano Sax , –
Today used mostly as a second instrument for
Jazz . *
A pioneer , who had brought a new vibrant color ,
That leaped from his sax with a ferocious , full-
blooded insistence ,
As if he was attempting to cram every emotion
in it !
His playing resembled the sound of the human
voice ,
Which brought in a novelty and fervor to the
music of Jazz !
Sidney was taught by the Creole clarinet master
Lorenzo Tio ;
And after having toured Texas and SW States
imparting shows ;
In 1919 as a clarinet soloist , he joined Will
Marion Cook’s Orchestra for touring Europe !
And there in a London junk shop he did find , –
A soprano sax who’s sound was simply divine !
The volume of the sax made him a leading soloist ,
He remained no longer as a counterpoint clarinetist !
Between 1924 -1925 his greatest recordings of
early Jazz was made , – **
Hear his classic recording of ‘Summertime’ , –
Which makes him all time great !
-Raj Nandy
New Delhi
* SAX WAS SUBSEQUENTLY MODIFIED WITH A WIDE
VARIETY , WHICH MAKES IT THE BACK-BONE OF JAZZ !
**SIDNEY was the only giant playing SOPRANO SAX , –
till JOHN COLTRANE popularized it in the ‘6Os !
He has recorded with Louis Armstrong also ! But his Solo recordings
like , – ‘Summertime’ & ‘Blue Notes’, make him a Pioneering
Great ! In 1951 , he settled in Paris , and died of cancer in 1959 !
Dedicated to all lovers of pure Jazz like Dorothy Holmes !
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