Sidney Bechet was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 14, 1897. Music was important in his family. His father played the flute and encouraged all of his children to learn to play music. Bechet started learning to play the clarinet when he was 8.

When Bechet became a teenager his interest in dance hall bands grew and he started skipping school to practice his clarinet. He played with a number of bands and was impressing other musicians around New Orleans with his musicial abilities at a young age. He dropped out of school when he was 16 to pursue music full time.

In 1919, while playing with Louis Mitchell’s Jazz Kings in Europe, Bechet bought a soprano saxophone. Soon that became his main instrument.  He recorded his first album in 1923 with Clanence Williams. He also recorded with Louis Armstrong.

Bechet was always beset with trouble. He had a bit of a temper and was quick to fight. His aggressive personality showed itself in his playing. He often played the lead parts that were usually reserved for the trumpet in the big bands.

Bechet even got into duel with another musician on the busy streets of Paris because somebody played the wrong changes on a tune. A woman passing by was wounded and Bechet served a year in jail and then was depoted.

Bechet even opened a tailoring company with a freind in Harlem in 1932. He was good at altering and pressing clothes.

Later in his life Bechet moved back to France where he died from lung cancer on his 62nd birthday.

Here’s a 1958 performance from a French TV show.