1953 - August 25

Sidney Bechet's Blue Note Jazz Men – August 25 1953

 

Max Harrison - The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Sidney Bechet - Mosaic Records MR6-110 

Aside obviously from Bechet himself, [Jimmy] Archey is again the sole survivor who goes on to the final [Bechet] session, but of greater consequence are the presence of Jonah Jones and the character of the rhythm section. The results should be compared with those of another Bechet date including Jones which took place in Paris the following year and used French musicians such as the pianist André Persiany. Buddy Weed, present on this last Blue Note session, is likewise not the sort of pianist that Bechet normally employed, and when we hear him soloing over the ensemble chords at the beginning of ALL OF ME we may regret the fact. A more nearly contemporary atmosphere is estabished than on any of the foregoing dates. The melody is masterfully declaimed by Jones, and Bechet responds to this explicit challenge with much intensity. DING DONG DADDY is another high-stepping performance and Weed again makes us wonder why more has not been heard of him since. Archey followed and Jones plays a knowing variant of Armstrong's 1930 recording, superbly executed.  

Bechet once again rightly feels himself challenged, responds accordingly, and in the final ensemble Jones offers further variations on Armstrong. BLACK AND BLUE has Armstrong associations as well, but these are not evident on the hitherto unissued take, which is abbreviated and consists of Bechet playing somewhat obliquely round Fats Waller's melody and a brief up-tempo section. On the familiar version, though, Jones has that melody and performs it in a manner altogether reminiscent of Armstrong, not least in the sheer grandeur of his tone and phrasing.  

Photo by Francis Wolff

He is admirably seconded by Weed rather than Bechet, and in his solo the pianist puts forward striking ideas with grace. Jones briefly resumes then is followed by a Bechet more directly emotional than was heard on the earlier take. Again Weed's light-fingered accompaniments are notable. This account of SHINE is naturally very different to the one from the initial session with Davison eight years before. Weed has by now established himself as the most accomplished pianist on this set of records, and he contributes another fine solo to SHINE. Unlike on that earlier version, Bechet makes some use of the original melody in his improvisation. Jones adds a solo that is entirely worthy of the occasion and after Archey has been heard from there is a clear-textured ensemble that is swung mightily by Page and Blowers. The drummer ushers in both readings of ROSE OF THE RIO GRANDE. Once more the ensembles are of high quality, as, inevitably it seems, is Bechet's invention-packed solo on the previously unknown take There is no lessening of musical tension as Weed follows, and Jones' is a distinctly virtuoso outing. Archey is next, and the end comes with a lucid yet very hot ensemble. The alternative and well known performance of this piece follows the same routine, but they all find something different to say. A Bechet cadenza opens SWEET GEORGIA BROWN, its somewhat histrionic effect punctured by the drums. Then the chase is on, with Jones and Weed quite undisturbed by the fleet tempo. The leader, Of course, is at once passionate and perfectly relaxed.  

This last Blue Note date is hardly thought of as a classic Bechet occasion, yet the best of it—ALLOF ME, DING DONG DADDY, SHINE and the second BLACK AND BLUE—will surprise new listeners and perhaps some old ones. Bechet often did that, of course, and if this comprehensive drawing together of all his Blue Note work signifies anything it is that he gives every sign of continuing to surprise us, provided that we listen carefully enough. 

The American Record Guide
August 1953

 

Nat Hentoff: The Fabulous Sidney Bechet Liner Notes BLP 1207 

In the second session [on the album], Mr. Archey remains and the trumpet is Jonah Jones, a swing era veteran (perhaps best known for his time with Cab Calloway) who made some European hegiras and who recently has found a steady, sizable income in playing muted jazz for such plush conversation rooms as The Embers in New York. The rhythm section on this second date is lighter and more flowing in the swing era sense than is usual on Bechet recordings. Buddy Weed has done many studio dates; Johnny Blowers has been with Eddie Condon, among others; and the late Walter Page, who died in 1957, was, of course, one of the first (if not the first) walking bassists and for many years was part of that Count Basie rhythm section which, as Whitney Balliett put it, "put wheels on the beat." 

Bechet has been in France for a decade now, and is likely to live there for the rest of his life. He has been accepted as no other jazz musician ever has in France. His records sell startling amounts at times; he plays not only the jazz clubs and concerts, but the big variety theatres; and he has the time and support to write and perform in projects like his ballet/ La Nuit Est Une Sorciere and more recently, his operetta, New Orleans. 

Even the usually embattled French jazz press is more or less united on lauding Bechet. The Grand Inquisitor, Hugues Panassié, writes of Bechet's ample, rich tone, tremendous drive and remarkable melodic sense. In the opposition press, Jazz-Hot, Frank Tenot wrote in 1952 that Bechet makes "his instrument sing with an astonishing lyric force. His hot and large sonority illuminates each of his phrases. However, the grandeur of his playing does not exclude simplicity, the quality of simplicity that the great masters of the first era of jazz possessed." 

At the August 1953 session
Photo by Francis Wolff

There have been times through the years when some critics have commented dourly on Bechet's vibrato, finding it too wide and overbearing. This reaction is palpably a matter of taste and temperament. I've never found his vibrato annoying, and find it, in fact, a quite natural vocalized part of his expressiveness. With all that heat coming through a technique and conception that, after all, began in an era when vibrato was the most natural concomitant of jazz imaginable, I'm only surprised that the vibrato — colleagues, sometimes doesn't erupt volcano-like and swallow us all record and listeners alike. 

Down Beat 29 May 1959 Volume 25 Issue 11 

The first five tracks stem from 1951, with Sidney DeParis, Jimmy Archey, Pops Foster, Don Kirkpatrick, and Manzie Johnson aboard. The remainder feature Bechet's soprano with Jonah Jones, Archey, Buddy Weed, Page, and Johnny Blowers as companions, cut in 1953. The earlier sides have a rigid, driving beat. The later seem looser. Good Bechet and Archey on both. (BLP 1207) 

Session Information 

Jonah Jones, trumpet; Jimmy Archey, trombone; Sidney Bechet, soprano sax; Buddy Weed, piano; Walter Page, bass; Johnny Blowers, drums. 

Audio-Video Studios, NYC, August 25, 1953 

 

BN518-3 tk.4, All Of Me, Blue Note BLP 7026, BLP 1207 

BN519-1 tk.6, I'm A Ding Dong Daddy, Blue Note BLP 7026, BLP 1207 

BN520-0 tk.7, Black And Blue (alt) 

BN520-1 tk.8, Black And Blue, Blue Note BLP 7026, BLP 1207 

BN521-1 tk.13, Shine, Blue Note BLP 7026 

BN522-0 tk.17, Rose Of The Rio Grande (alt) 

BN522-2 tk.19, Rose Of The Rio Grande, Blue Note BLP 7026, BLP 1207 

BN523-0 tk.20, Sweet Georgia Brown, Blue Note BLP 7026, BLP 1207