Search - Sidney Bechet, Martial Solal :: Sidney Bechet/Martial Solal Quartet Ft Kenny Clarke

More than most of your typical reviewers say it is.....

G. Whiz | Earth | 05/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This material has been out of print for years - in fact, I'm not sure that it ever made it's way on to a CD.



Many of the reviews you will read, in books, will tell you that Bechet was, "as cautious as he has ever been" with regards to his playing on these two sessions. Simply put, that is not the case.



Sidney was already suffering from stomach problems which he had been experiencing for several years. To pair him with Martial Solal and a group of "Euro-Modernists" was a stroke of brilliance that unfortunately, nobody at Vogue either thought of or was able to pull off in earlier years during Bechet's life in France.



Bechet and Solal leave each other ample room for improvisations and nowhere does Bechet sound as if he was playing his "stock phrases" in these sessions. Jeepers Creepers is the least appealing of the tracks but the rest are fabulous and the remastering is excellent.



These sessions are enigmatic in the Bechet catalog and I place them along with the "Storyville" sessions as some of his most interesting. On the Storyville sessions more room was given (because the material was recorded live) for Bechet and the band to stretch out their solos, building very memorable choruses. On this CD, the songs are not as long but if anything - Bechet was playing songs that he was surely familiar with but nothing that he had been playing with the Luter/Rotweiloty (sp?) orchestras and bands that he toured with around Europe. In other words - these ain't the "stock" songs/phrases that he played nightly; Bechet definitely has some tricks up his sleeve! The interplay between Bechet and Solal is quite amusing and very well done.



Definitely a gold nugget in the Bechet catalog. Is Bechet trying to be Charlie Parker amongst these modernists? Absolutely not! However, he is Bechet through and through and what else could a Bechet fan ask for. Why oh why couldn't more of this sort of material with these types of musicians not have been recorded?



Lastly, Bechet (reportedly) walked into the studios with very little or no rehearsal and cut these sides. As I've read it, there were no re-takes nor alternate cuts made. Oh, to have something like this with Bechet on clarinet!



Wonderfully done and I'm glad to see this finally on CD. Thank You Vogue!"