Sidney Bechet: Treat It Gentle

Though not nearly as renowned as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, historians consider New Orleans clarinetist-soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet to be every bit as vital to the development of jazz as those two giants. Indeed, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis says that as a soloist, Bechet—with his instantly recognizable sound: a keening, reedy tone that pierces through every recording he made—deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young. So why did fame and fortune elude him? This informative and entertaining 1997 documentary suggests that while Bechet was making hay in Europe, the others were making names for themselves in the U.S.; in fact, when he returned, Bechet was obliged to open a tailor shop in Harlem while his peers were headlining major venues (he eventually returned to Europe, where he enjoyed immense popularity before his death in Paris in 1959). Combining Bechet's own writings (read by singer Bill Fredericks, a former member of the Drifters) with various talking head interviews (including Woody Allen, himself a decent clarinetist), Treat It Gentle is filled with telling observations and amusing anecdotes (always the ladies man, Bechet was deported from England for slapping a white woman, dallied with actress Tallulah Bankhead, and had both a wife and a mistress in Paris). What the film lacks, however, is anything in the way of complete musical performances and brief audio/video clips simply don't do the man's music justice. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)