[Dixielandjazz] Bechet on Sarrousaphone

[Steve barbone]

To hear Sidney Bechet play a Sarrusophone solo, click on the following web
site.  http://www.redhotjazz.com/bechetarticle.html

Then scroll down the article about 4/5 of the way till you see the below
paragraphs. When you see them, click on the words "Mandy Make Up Your Mind"
either in the first or second paragraph of the article and if you have "Real
Player", you will hear Bechet's Sarrusophone solo around the 2 minute mark.
Sounds very much like a Bass Sax, and sounds good to these ears.

Cheers,
Steve

 

The outpouring of genius from Bechet and Armstrong continue on the next two
sides, "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" and "I'm A Little Blackbird", on which the
band is joined by Clarence Williams' wife, Eva Taylor as vocalist. "Mandy
Make Up Your Mind" is notable for the only example on a jazz record of a
sarrusophone solo. A twin reeded instrument sounding like a cross between a
bassoon and a bass saxophone, the sarrusophone was often used in the
pre-electric recording era as a replacement for a double bass, which did not
have the carrying power to record satisfactorily. Thus it would not be
unusual for a sarrusophone to be lying around a recording studio, and one
can imagine Bechet seeing one of these oddities in a corner and giving it a
blow! 

Although Bechet plays wonderfully throughout on both soprano sax and
sarrusophone, the star of "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" is Louis ­ his lead in
the final chorus is overwhelming in its power and intensity, which comes
over clearly despite his being placed some distance from the recording horn.