If you're new to jazz, go to our Getting Into Jazz primer for some hints on how to listen. Two hot jazz legends melt the thermometer, pushing each other to produce the most inspired work of their ...

Along with his fellow New Orleanian, Louis Armstrong, Bechet was one of the first great soloists in jazz. His throaty, powerful clarinet and his throbbing soprano are among the most thrilling sounds ...

Sidney Bechet, born in New Orleans May 14, 1897, was a jazz original. “Along with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, Bechet is part of the pantheon of New Orleans' greatest jazz musicians,” writes ...

Star saxophonist Courtney Pine's new album Transition in Tradition is dedicated to Sidney Bechet – a New Orleans jazz pioneer who died half a century ago. His name is probably unknown to music lovers ...

At Paris’ Olympia music hall, vaudeville was in full flower. There were acrobats, unicyclists, a juggler, Mexican guitarists. But the attraction that filled the 2,000-seat house last week was strictly ...

Sidney Bechet was the original saxophone colossus. The New Orleans pioneer displayed such a larger-than-life presence on soprano saxophone and clarinet at such an early juncture in jazz history that ...

Daniel Bechet unveils a blue plaque in London in honour of his father, jazz musician Sidney Bechet Credit: Photo: Martin Chilton Sidney Bechet's son, the drummer and writer Daniel Bechet, spoke of his ...