News & Updates — Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet / May 14, 1897 - May 14, 1959

Sidney Bechet / May 14, 1897 - May 14, 1959

One of the early solo stylists of jazz, Sidney Bechet ripped it up in his native New Orleans, marching in parade bands, playing parties and as clarinetist with the Eagle Band and others before joining King Oliver's band in 1913. That band did some heavy touring, including a residency in Chicago. In 1919 he joined the Syncopated Orchestra in NYC and that band went to Europe and became a sensation, even attracting positive attention from the classical music world. In London he started playing the soprano saxophone and became the early standard on that instrument (greatly influencing John Coltrane). His...

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