AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sidney Bechet

Artist:Sidney Bechet

Song:I've Found a New Baby

Album:Runnin' Wild

Like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet was a jazz pioneer but he played mostly the clarinet. He also played the sax but in his heyday the clarinet was more popular. Bechet wasn't as popular as Armstrong mostly because he preferred living in France and Armstrong lived in New York. So he was easier to talk to. Also, Bechet was known for having a bad temper and he could be difficult to get along with. These recordings were for Blue Note in the late 40s and early 50s. They were released on 10" LPs but Blue Note released them on CD in 1997. Bechet lived in Chicago during the 40s. But he had a bad record deal at the time that restricted where he could perform. It got so bad that he opened a tailor shop. Then he signed with Blue Note and moved to Paris. I've Found a New Baby is a jazz standard that was written in 1926 by Jack Palmer and Spencer Williams and first recorded by Clarence Williams' Blue Five. Bechet was in that band. It was also recorded by Ted Lewis and Ethel Waters. Sidney Bechet and his New Orleans Feetwarmers recorded the song in 1932. An appearance at a jazz festival in Paris convinced Bechet to move for good. Bechet formed Sidney Bechet and his Blue Note Jazz Men with trumpeter Wild Bill Davison. These recordings were released on two 10" LPs followed by a full length LP. They were recorded in 1949 and 1950 in New York around the time Bechet decided to move to Paris. Musicians on I've Found a New Baby are Wild Bill Davison on cornet, Art Hodes on piano, Walter Page on bass and Fred Moore on drums. As I said, this budget CD seems to have all this band's recordings. Bechet's Blue Note recordings didn't do well because bebop was hot at the time. So he signed with the French label Vogue and recorded for them until his death on May 14, 1959 on his 62nd birthday. Here's Sidney Bechet performing I've Found a New Baby at the 1958 Cannes Jazz Festival on the French TV network INA. The musicians are all French guys that I have never heard of.