Sidney Bechet & Martial Solal Quartet Complete Recordings

Sidney Bechet/Martial Solal Quartet Ft Kenny Clarke Review

 

by arwulf arwulf

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Sidney Bechet, who cut his first records in 1923, was an internationally acclaimed musician during the final decade of his life. A master of clarinet and soprano saxophone, his New Orleans background established him as a primal hero of Dixieland jazz, and almost everything in his later discography reflects that affiliation. When on March 12 and again on June 17, 1957 Bechet cut an album's worth of material with a trio led by Algerian-Parisian pianist Martial Solal, the results were profound, beautiful, and exciting. For the first session, Solal invited bassist Lloyd Thompson and drummer Al Levitt; three months later, the bassist was Pierre Michelot and the drummer Kenny "Klook" Clarke, a pioneer of early modern jazz whose first European recordings included an opus from 1948 entitled "Algerian Cynicism." The Bechet-Solal Quartet album, which exists as the result of producer Charles Delaunay's self-described "brainwave" to combine taproot tradition with cutting-edge modernity, is unique among the rest of Bechet's output. Solal's approach was refreshingly creative -- within a couple of years he'd be laying down themes for the soundtrack of Jean Luc Godard's cinematic masterpiece of the French Nouvelle Vague, A Bout de Souffle (known in the U.S. as Breathless). Bechet sounds quite comfortable in this company, and the playlist, which includes "Jeepers Creepers," "All the Things You Are," and "I Only Have Eyes for You" is so different from his usual repertoire that sensitive and impressionable listeners who know his life and work by heart may find themselves deeply moved. This was not Bechet's final session -- about a dozen subsequent dates with French traditionalists end with his final recording in December 1958 -- but it feels a lot like his last testament. His outstanding musicianship is perfectly complemented by the skills of Solal, Clarke, Michelot, and the rest of the young men who were fortunate enough to sit in with the master during the twilight of his long and eventful career.

Sidney Bechet & Martial Solal Quartet

Complete Recordings

1 I Only Have Eyes For You 00:00 2 The Man I Love 03:00 3 Exactly Like You 05:46 4 These Foolish Things 08:42 5 Once In A While 12:31 6 Jeepers Creepers 15:15 7 I Never Knew 18:22 8 Pennies From Heaven 21:22 9 All The Things You Are 25:06 10 All Of Me 27:52 11 Embraceable You 31:03 12 Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams 34:02 13 Rose Room 37:14 14 It Don't Mean A Thing 40:38 15 Milenberg Joys 43:37 16 Limehouse Blues 46:28 17 The Blue Room 49:51 18 Ol' Rockin' Chair 53:06 19 Big Butter And Egg Man 55:49 20 My Melancholy Baby 58:48 21 I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues 01:02:26 22 Black Bottom 01:05:21 23 Baby's Prayer 01:08:49 24 Lazy River 01:11:29 25 Stars Fell on Alabama/Lazy River 01:13:15 Soprano Saxophone – Sidney Bechet Piano – Martial Solal Drums – Al Levitt, Kenny Clarke Bass – Lloyd Thompson , Pierre Michelot

Recorded

March & June 1957, Paris, France. Sidney Bechet Trio ( Bonus Tracks 15 to 25 ) Lil Armstrong - Piano, Vocals on tracks 19 & 24 Zutty Singleton - Drums

Recorded

October 7, 1952. Paris, France