簡介:
小簡介
Bessie Smith(1894。4。15~1937。9。26)是爵士樂歷史上的一位悲劇性的人物。她在音樂上的出色成就是公認(rèn)的,可以毫不夸張地說,她是第一位主要錄制唱片的布魯斯歌手和爵士歌手,對于這兩種音樂形式的發(fā)展都作出了巨大的貢獻(xiàn)。從整個爵士樂和布魯斯的歷 更多>
小簡介
Bessie Smith(1894。4。15~1937。9。26)是爵士樂歷史上的一位悲劇性的人物。她在音樂上的出色成就是公認(rèn)的,可以毫不夸張地說,她是第一位主要錄制唱片的布魯斯歌手和爵士歌手,對于這兩種音樂形式的發(fā)展都作出了巨大的貢獻(xiàn)。從整個爵士樂和布魯斯的歷史來看,她也可以被認(rèn)為是最有魅力和力量的歌手之一。
早在1923年她首次灌制唱片時,她富于情感的演唱就大大超越了當(dāng)時低劣的唱片制作水平,她使音樂具有了生命力。即使是在幾十年后的今天,當(dāng)人們聽起現(xiàn)在保存下來的珍貴的錄音時,仍能從中感受到她在歌曲中表達(dá)出的感館,這絕非夸夸其談。被評論界授予“布魯斯歌手”稱號的Smith在這個領(lǐng)域可以說是沒有任何競爭對手。
1925年5月25日,哥倫比亞唱片公司安排她錄制《黃狗布魯斯》。當(dāng)時哥倫比亞公司剛剛采用了電聲技術(shù),這在當(dāng)時是一個革新,伴奏樂隊(duì)的聲音不會再影響到歌手的效果。在此之前,Bessie最多和三重奏樂隊(duì)錄制過唱片。
Bessie成長在田納西州納什維爾市貧民窟中,她童年的經(jīng)歷極為不幸。1912年當(dāng)時只有18歲的Bessie Smith被 Ma Rainey 發(fā)現(xiàn),并吸收到自己的樂隊(duì)之中,Bessie成為了她演出的伙伴,受到她的保護(hù)和指導(dǎo)。某種程度上,Bessie的音樂成就除了她的天才之外,同 Rainey 的教導(dǎo)也是分不開的。盡管在 Rainey 的演唱生涯中,也取得了輝煌的成就,成為了第一位主要的黑人女歌手,但從一開始,Bessie Smith 就注定了將超越她的前輩。
1920年,已經(jīng)羽翼豐滿的Bessie Smith獨(dú)立演出,她的首演之地是新澤西州的大西洋城。三年之后,她遷居到爵士樂的中心城市紐約。她的才華很快就引起了錄音界的注意,慧眼識才的哥倫比亞唱片公司和她簽訂了合同。她在不久之后就推出了自己的首張唱片,由 Alberta Hunter 作曲的《Downhearted Blues》,這張唱片一發(fā)行,Bessie Smith就成為了歌唱界的名人。在整個二十年代,Bessie Smith成為了美國最紅的歌手,她有機(jī)會錄音、演出,她有了充分的資格選擇自己的伴奏者。
在二十年代,Smith是一位成功的歌手,在黑人娛樂界她是首屈一指的大明星。然而其他聽眾對于她幾乎是一無所知,白人聽眾完全是依靠唱片才知道了她的名字。布魯斯卻逐漸由于經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢一天天變糟,以致逐漸不流行。
終于在1929年,由于大蕭條時期的到來,布魯斯成為過時的音樂,Bessie Smith在歌壇的如日中天的地位受到了動搖,并且直線下降。一切都是來得那么的突然,年僅三十五歲的Smith正處于事業(yè)的高峰,她對此突如其來的打擊感到不解。在這一年,她參加了電影《St. Louis Blues》的拍攝。這是一部低成本的影片,而且非常短,其中保存下了Smith至今為止唯一的一組鏡頭,但是拍電影也未能給Smith帶來好運(yùn)。
1931年,與她合作多年的哥倫比亞唱片公司解除了她的合同。原因很簡單,因?yàn)闆]有人愿意在傷心的歲月聽?wèi)n傷的歌曲,人們需要快樂的節(jié)奏,、即便是低俗的音樂也有市場,藝術(shù)首先要讓位于利潤,效益和金錢,即使是 Bessie Smith 也難以逃脫厄運(yùn)。1934年Bessie錄制了她最后的四首曲子的演唱唱片。她依然堅持工作,對于她來說,演唱就是生活,就是她的一切;放棄了歌唱就是放棄了她的生活。在1935年她在阿波羅歌舞廳演唱過,她還在一場《Stars over Broadway》演出中擔(dān)任了后來倔起的 Billie Holiday 的候補(bǔ)角色。這次機(jī)會對于久已陌生了舞臺的 Smiths 來說,實(shí)在是太珍貴了,她把得以卷土重來的希望全都寄托在這次演出上。人們重新看到了他們久已忘記了的,甚至已經(jīng)陌生了的Bessie Smith。他們似乎是重新發(fā)現(xiàn)了新大陸,重新見到了長久未見到的天才歌手,重新聽到了富于情感的聲音,他們?yōu)橹畾g呼。
終于,Bessie來到了音樂家的殿堂——卡內(nèi)基音樂廳,參加了 John Hammond 的《From Spirituals to Swing》的演出,一起似乎都好了起來,Bessie又找到了成功的感覺,她的命運(yùn)似乎從此而逆轉(zhuǎn)。然而命運(yùn)似乎總是以捉弄人為樂。Bessie在南方的密西西比遭遇車禍,據(jù)說本來她的傷勢并非致命,然而在種族歧視盛行的南方,一位黑人是不會受到白人公正的對待的,她的傷勢被耽誤了,終于因此而失去了生命,她的許許多多的愿望都為完成。否則在爵士樂結(jié)盛的時代誰又能說Smith不會再度創(chuàng)造新的奇跡呢?
1967年,Bessie Smith入選Down Beat爵士名人堂。
by Scott Yanow!
The first major blues and jazz singer on record and one of the most powerful of all time, Bessie Smith rightly earned the title of The Empress of the Blues. Even on her first records in 1923, her passionate voice overcame the primitive recording quality of the day and still communicates easily to todays listeners (which is not true of any other singer from that early period). At a time when the blues were in and most vocalists (particularly vaudevillians) were being dubbed blues singers, Bessie Smith simply had no competition.
Back in 1912, Bessie Smith sang in the same show as Ma Rainey, who took her under her wing and coached her. Although Rainey would achieve a measure of fame throughout her career, she was soon surpassed by her protégée. In 1920, Smith had her own show in Atlantic City and, in 1923, she moved to New York. She was soon signed by Columbia and her first recording (Alberta Hunters Downhearted Blues) made her famous. Bessie Smith worked and recorded steadily throughout the decade, using many top musicians as sidemen on sessions including Louis Armstrong, Joe Smith (her favorite cornetist), James P. Johnson, and Charlie Green. Her summer tent show Harlem Frolics was a big success during 1925-1927, and Mississippi Days in 1928 kept the momentum going.
However, by 1929 the blues were out-of-fashion and Bessie Smiths career was declining despite being at the peak of her powers (and still only 35). She appeared in St. Louis Blues that year (a low-budget movie short that contains the only footage of her), but her hit recording of Nobody Knows You When Youre Down and Out predicted her leaner Depression years. Although she was dropped by Columbia in 1931 and made her final recordings on a four-song session in 1933, Bessie Smith kept on working. She played the Apollo in 1935 and substituted for Billie Holiday in the show Stars Over Broadway. The chances are very good that she would have made a comeback, starting with a Carnegie Hall appearance at John Hammonds upcoming From Spirituals to Swing concert, but she was killed in a car crash in Mississippi. Columbia has reissued all of her recordings, first in five two-LP sets and more recently on five two-CD box sets that also contain her five alternate takes, the soundtrack of St. Louis Blues, and an interview with her niece Ruby Smith. The Empress of the Blues, based on her recordings, will never have to abdicate her throne.