Sidney Bechet’s “Summertime”
Once the favorite son of his native New Orleans, as well as his many adopted European hometowns, Bechet’s recordings are now too often overlooked. Bechet, born in 1897, was a true virtuoso of the clarinet, and played a major part in establishing the instrument’s role in Dixieland and early jazz. His pioneering use of the soprano saxophone set a precedent that would come to fruition in a later generation of saxophonists. Bechet’s penchant for unusual instruments is documented in a few surviving recordings on the bass saxophone and the sarrusophone, instruments as nearly obsolete in Bechet’s day as in our own.
But Bechet’s genius transcended his choice of instrument. His abilities may even have rivaled his contemporary, and sometime bandmate, Louis Armstrong. The eminent Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet upheld Bechet as “the highway the whole world will swing along tomorrow.” Ansermet would no doubt be disappointed to find his prediction has been disproved.
Bechet’s 1939 recording of “Summertime” reveals a sophistication and maturity which surprise the bebop devotee. The recording was made as a tribute and farewell to Tommy Ladnier, a trumpeter colleague of Bechet’s who had died four days previous to the recording session.
Surrounded by such aging luminaries as Meade “Lux” Lewis and Sid Catlett, Bechet recorded “Summertime” for the fledgling Blue Note label. “Summertime” was Blue Note’s first hit, and laid the groundwork for the label’s lasting dynasty. Bechet’s soprano work on the record is extolled in reverent tones by jazz scholars (” . . . a kind of operatic ideal: rhapsodized, vocalized . . . whose power bursts the confines of any restrictive definition of ‘jazz.'”)
Bechet’s powerful tone and throbbing vibrato identify him immediately. He uses a characteristically broad palette of tone colors, ranging from a delicate whisper to a piercing shout. In measures 20-25, he alternates down-and-dirty growling rips with a pure, bell-like sound in the low register. The growl returns in measures 43-45, this time more insistently. A split tone in measure 14 sounds at first like a mistake, but, intentional or not, Bechet milks it for maximum effect.
The next striking characteristic of Bechet’s playing is the freedom of his rhythm. The relaxed-but-never-stagnant tempo gives Bechet space to experiment with divisions of the beat. He moves convincingly and naturally in and out of the tune’s 4/4 meter, employing, variously, swing rhythms, a 12/8 shuffle, straight sixteenth notes, and a double-time swing. In measures 15-17, Bechet plays a laid-back swing syncopation, followed immediately by a double-time excursion, preparing a new phrase in 12/8. The juxtaposition is jarring only in transcription; on record, Bechet’s rhythmic detours sound effortless and unaffected.
Bechet’s masterful melodic sense is at its peak in “Summertime.” He favors the color of the E-flat as flatted sixth over the tonic G minor chord and as flatted ninth over the dominant D7. He uses drifting chromaticisms to create a sense of lazy melancholy: from D to E-flat and back in measure 11, the surprising D-sharp in measure 27, the minor-7 to major-6 to minor-6 in measure 38, and the growling passage in measures 43-45 are especially notable.
Strangely, Bechet does not play a single flatted fifth, despite the undeniably bluesy mood. Instead, he often approaches the fifth from the flatted sixth. Perhaps this approach to the minor key reflects his love for classical music, especially opera, more than his reputation as a jazz player.
Bechet draws heavily upon the melody for solo ideas. The ninth bar of each chorus makes clear reference to the original melody. Repetition of an idea is another favorite device (see measures 20-25, 43-44, 63-65, and 78).
Bechet’s choice of the soprano saxophone for this performance is perfect for the mood he creates. The soprano’s inherent flexibility of pitch is exploited to great effect in the ubiquitous bends and scoops. The gradations of pitch give a bluesy effect despite the absence of the flatted fifth.
The recording begins with a four-bar guitar introduction, followed by a sixteen-bar statement of the melody and four sixteen-bar choruses of improvised solo. The final chorus ends in a brief cadenza.
Sidney Bechet died in 1959, ironically, the same year that Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps were recorded, eclipsing much of the earlier “traditional” jazz. Recent re-releases of Bechet’s recordings, however, are beginning to revive interest in his work. In 2000, looking back over a century of jazz, historian Richard Sudhalter said, “In all jazz history there had never been another performer like him, and in all probability there never will be.”
Notes
Quoted by Ted Gioia in The History of Jazz, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 57.
Richard Sudhalter, liner notes to Sidney Bechet: Ken Burns Jazz, New York: Sony Music Entertainment, 2000.
Ronnie Virgets, “Treat it Gentle,” bestofneworleans.com, 2002. Referenced in October 2002.
Do you have the Bb version? (for soprano sax)
Thanks
I have run across two transcriptions of Summertime by you. One is in b flat. The other is in c. What instruments play the b flat version?
The version I did is the one hosted on this site. There’s another one that shows up in Google results that was transposed and posted by someone else without my permission. My version is in concert pitch.
As the guilty party to the above ;) I will only say in my defence that I needed the transposed chart because (unlike my show-off kids) I’m hopeless as transposing while sight-reading, however, to be fair, when you play any transposing instrument, it is a skill you should hone … before you end up like me!
It’s not really that difficult for Bb, you just have to add two sharps and think one note below; if you have the Klose studies or similar, it is a very good exercise to go through them in all 12 keys (so I’m told, by my smart-alec kids) but even if you just go through them AS IF they were in concert key, it’s a useful skill, essential if you find yourself in the company of a pianist with only one copy of music, or your average jamming band of rockers.
For Gary, below….. I love and respect and remember doing that. Now I use a capo…..instant transposer. Ha!!!! Small joke I’ll soon pick up a clarinet again
The song “Summertime” although beautiful doesn’t have many bars. Bechet incorporates a section of a familiar classical piece of music that blends with the Gershwin song. Can you tell me the name of that music?
I think you are wrong in your assessment – just because Sidney Bechet isn’t a household name doesn’t mean that the world isn’t swinging along his highway.
Bechet is one of the “funnels” of modern music, much like the Beatles.
He was the first jazz musician to be recorded swinging quavers (Louis Armstrong on the same recording was still playing straight), and his recording of Summertime was the first jazz version of a song that has become arguably one of the most famous jazz standards of all: and notably it was the first recording to feature lead and rhythm guitarists, although it was an accident: Bechet accidentally booked two guitarists for the session.