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Some people seem to have purposely avoided the camera while others have found themselves on film again and again. Sidney Bechet, born in New Orleans in 1897, grew up in a middle class creole family. He learned to play the clarinet, as well as several other instruments and became part of Bunk Johnson’s Eagle Band at a very young age. Bechet went to Chicago with (the man I’m looking for on film) Clarence Williams in 1916. There he began to play the soprano saxophone which became his signature instrument. Sidney Bechet was recognized as a premier jazz musician by his peers but did not have a very lucrative career until later in life. He appears to have had a difficult personality. He did appear in many recordings produced by Clarence Williams, often alongside Louis Armstrong.

Bechet spent much of his life in Europe. As early as 1919 he was playing in Will Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated Orchestra in London. He played on several European recordings in a band led by Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake’s collaborator in writing the Broadway musical “Steppin’ Along.” He lived in France for a period during the 1920s until he was deported after a duel, apparently fought over a dispute about chord changes. For a time he ran a dry cleaning establishment in Brooklyn New York.

Bechet returned to France and, in 1950 married one Elisabeth Ziegler. Fortunately for us, he made several appearances on French television during the 50s. Bechet died in Paris in 1959 on his 62nd birthday.

Here is a clip showing Bechet leading an all star band at the 1958 Cannes Jazz festival, with Teddy Buckner playing trumpet, Vic Dickenson on trombone, Sammy Price piano, Arvell Shaw bass and, oddly, trumpeter Roy Eldridge on drums.

I also found a short clip showing a small portion of a ballet written by Bechet “La nuit est une sorciere,” which debuted in Paris in 1953. Bechet’s soprano sax can be heard plaing the main theme of this piece.

There is a DVD available of the film made from Bechet’s autobiography Treat it Gentle.

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