View source for Sidney Bechet

{{Short description|American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer (1897–1959)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Lead too short|date=August 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Sidney Bechet
| image            = Sidney Bechet, Freddie Moore, Lloyd Phillips (Gottlieb 00521).jpg
| caption          = Bechet at [[Jimmy Ryan's]] club, New York, 1947, photograph by [[William P. Gottlieb]]
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1897|05|14}}
| birth_place      = [[New Orleans]], Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1959|05|14|1897|05|14}}
| death_place      = [[Garches]], France
| genre            = [[Jazz]], [[Music of New Orleans#Jazz|New Orleans jazz]]
| occupation       = Musician, composer
| instrument       = Clarinet, soprano saxophone
| years_active     = 1908–1957
| past_member_of  = [[Louis Armstrong]], Tommy Ladnier
}}

'''Sidney Joseph Bechet''' (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American [[jazz]] saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important [[Solo (music)|soloists]] in [[jazz]], and first recorded several months before trumpeter [[Louis Armstrong]].<ref name="AllMusic2">{{cite web|last=Yanow|first=Scott|title=Sidney Bechet|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sidney-bechet-p55279/biography|access-date=June 28, 2011|website=[[AllMusic]].com}}</ref> His erratic temper hampered his career, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim. Bechet spent much of his later life in France.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|last=Hudson|first=Rob|date=January 14, 2008|title=Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) •|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/bechet-sidney-1897-1959/|access-date=November 12, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:BechetMaraisExterior1.JPG|left|thumb|Bechet's childhood home in the [[7th Ward of New Orleans]]]]

=== Early life ===
Bechet was born in [[New Orleans]] in 1897 to a middle-class [[Creole of color]] family. Bechet's father Omar was both a [[Shoemaking|shoemaker]] and a [[flute]] player, and all four of his brothers were musicians as well.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|title=Sidney Bechet {{!}} Association for Cultural Equity|url=http://www.culturalequity.org/alan-lomax/friends/bechet|access-date=November 12, 2021|website=The Association for Cultural Equity|language=en}}</ref>

His older brother, Leonard Victor Bechet, was a full-time [[dentist]] and a part-time [[Trombone|trombonist]] and [[bandleader]]. Bechet learned and mastered several musical instruments that were kept around the house (he began on the [[cornet]]), mostly by teaching himself; he decided to specialize in the [[clarinet]] (which he played almost exclusively until about 1919).<ref name=":12" />

At the age of six, he started performing with his brother's band at a family birthday party, debuting his talents to acclaim. Later in his youth, Bechet studied with [[King Oliver|Joseph "King" Oliver]], [[Bunk Johnson]], [[Freddie Keppard]],<ref name=":22" /> [[Lorenzo Tio]], "Big Eye" [[Louis Nelson Delisle]], and [[George Baquet]].<ref name="Sidney Bechet and His Long Song2">{{cite journal|last1=Porter|first1=Lewis|last2=Ullman|first2=Michael|date=1988|title=Sidney Bechet and His Long Song|journal=The Black Perspective in Music|volume=16|issue=2|pages=135–150|doi=10.2307/1214805|jstor=1214805}}</ref>

=== Musical development ===
Bechet played in many New Orleans ensembles using the [[Musical improvisation|improvisational techniques]] of the time ([[obbligato]]s with [[Scale (music)|scales]] and [[arpeggios]] and varying the [[melody]]). 
While working with [[Louis Armstrong]], Bechet was one of the first musicians to develop the [[Swing music|Swing]] style of jazz; he influenced the widening difference between [[jazz]] and [[ragtime]].<ref name=":22" /> Bechet liked to have his sound dominate in a performance, and trumpeters reportedly found it difficult to play alongside him.<ref name="Horricks2">{{cite book|last=Horricks|first=Raymond|url=https://archive.org/details/profilesinjazzfr00horr|title=Profiles in Jazz|publisher=Transaction|year=1991|isbn=9780887384325|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|pages=[https://archive.org/details/profilesinjazzfr00horr/page/1 1–10]|url-access=registration}}</ref>

He performed in parades with [[Freddie Keppard]]'s [[brass band]], the [[Olympia Orchestra]], and in [[John Robichaux]]'s dance orchestra. From 1911 to 1912, he performed with [[Bunk Johnson]] in [[the Eagle Band]] of New Orleans and in 1913–14 with [[King Oliver]] in the Olympia Band. From 1914 to 1917, he was touring and traveling, going as far north as Chicago and frequently performing with [[Freddie Keppard]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

In the spring of 1919, he traveled to New York City and joined [[Will Marion Cook]]'s Syncopated Orchestra. Soon after, the orchestra traveled to Europe, where they performed at the Royal Philharmonic Hall in London. The group was warmly received, and Bechet was especially popular.<ref name="Sidney Bechet and His Long Song2" />

While in London, he discovered the straight [[soprano saxophone]] and developed a style unlike his clarinet [[Musical tone|tone]]. Bechet was the first influential soprano saxophonist, leading to its rising popularity as a jazz instrument.<ref name=":12" />

His saxophone sound could be described as emotional, reckless, and all-encompassing. He often used a broad [[vibrato]], similar to some New Orleans clarinetists at the time. In 1919, a Swiss classical music conductor, [[Ernest Ansermet]], wrote a tribute to Bechet. It was one of the earliest (if not the first) articles about a jazz musician written by an expert in the field of [[classical music]], linking Bechet's music with that of [[Bach]].<ref name="Sidney Bechet and His Long Song2" />

Bechet's first recordings were made in 1923 and 1924.<ref name=":22" /> The session was led by [[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]], a pianist and songwriter, better known at that time for his music publishing and record producing, and his "[[Clarence Williams (musician)|Blue Five]]" (which included [[Louis Armstrong]]).<ref name=":22" /> Bechet recorded "Wild Cat Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues". The former is in a ragtime style with four 16-bar themes, and the latter is a [[Twelve-bar blues|12-bar blues]].<ref name=":12" /> In 1924, Bechet worked with [[Duke Ellington]] for three months and made a significant impact on Ellington's early jazz style.<ref name=":22" /> 
[[Duke Ellington]] called him "the epitome of jazz".<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=YUDKIN|first=JEREMY|date=2010|title=Review of Sidney Bechet: Treat It Gentle; The Life and Times of a Jazz Master|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41201416|journal=Yearbook for Traditional Music|volume=42|pages=237–238|doi=10.1017/S0740155800013023 |jstor=41201416 |s2cid=251633340 |issn=0740-1558|url-access=subscription}}</ref> However, he never learned how to read music in his lifetime of being a musician.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Signature Series Soprano Saxophone.jpg|thumb|[[Soprano saxophone]]]]

=== Bechet in France ===
[[File:Bechet.gif|thumb|Bechet in 1922]]

On September 15, 1925, Bechet and other members of the [[La Revue Nègre|''Revue Nègre'']], including [[Josephine Baker]], sailed to Europe, arriving at [[Cherbourg, France|Cherbourg]], France, on September 22. The revue opened at the [[Théâtre des Champs-Élysées]]<ref name=":2">{{cite book|last=Shack|first=William A.|url=https://archive.org/details/harleminmontmart00shac/page/35|title=Harlem in Montmartre|publisher=University of California Press|year=2001|isbn=0-520-22537-6|location=Berkeley|page=[https://archive.org/details/harleminmontmart00shac/page/35 35]|url-access=registration}}</ref> in [[Paris]] on October 2. The show was an example of [[negrophilia]] in France at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Travels of Josephine Baker and Sidney Bechet {{!}} Musical Geography|url=https://musicalgeography.org/project/the-travels-of-josephine-baker-and-sidney-bechet/|access-date=November 17, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> He toured Europe with multiple bands, reaching as far as Russia in mid-1926. In 1928, he led his small band at Chez [[Ada "Bricktop" Smith|Bricktop]] (run by the popular [[Ada "Bricktop" Smith]]) in [[Montmartre]], Paris.

In France, Bechet found that he was appreciated by a wider audience and had more general freedom than he did in the United States.<ref name=":1" />

He was imprisoned in Paris for eleven months.<ref name="Cohassey2">{{cite web|last1=Cohassey|first1=John|title=Sidney Bechet|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/sidney-bechet|access-date=September 10, 2018|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA2">{{Cite AV media notes|title=Sidney Bechet: Master Musician|year=1976|first=Robert|last=Palmer|publisher=[[Bluebird Records]]}}</ref> In his autobiography, he wrote that he accidentally shot a woman when he was trying to shoot a musician who had insulted him. He had challenged the man to duel and said, "Sidney Bechet never plays the wrong chord."<ref name="struggle2">{{cite web|title=The struggle in Paris|url=https://sidneybechet.weebly.com/blog/the-struggle-in-paris|access-date=September 10, 2018|website=My Life - Sidney Bechet}}</ref> After his release, he was deported to the United States. He joined with [[Lorenzo Tio]] and also came to know trumpeter [[Roy Eldridge]].<ref name="Horricks2" />

In 1932, Bechet returned to New York City to lead a band with [[Tommy Ladnier]]. The band, comprising six members, performed at the [[Savoy Ballroom]]. He played in [[Noble Sissle]]'s orchestra, which toured in Germany and Russia.

=== Later life ===
In 1938, "Hold Tight, Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama)", commonly known as "[[Hold Tight (Sidney Bechet song)|Hold Tight]]", was composed by Bechet's guitarist [[Leonard Ware]] and two session singers with claimed contributions from Bechet himself. The song became known for its suggestive lyrics and then for a series of lawsuits over songwriter [[Royalty payment|royalties]].

In 1939, Bechet and the pianist [[Willie "The Lion" Smith]] led a group that recorded several early versions of what was later called [[Latin jazz]], adapting traditional [[méringue]], [[rhumba]] and [[Haiti]]an songs to the jazz idiom. On July 28, 1940, Bechet made a guest appearance on the [[NBC Radio]] show ''[[The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street]]'', playing two of his showpieces ("Shake It and Break It" and "[[Saint Louis Blues (song)|St. Louis Blues]]") with Henry Levine's [[Dixieland]] band. Levine invited Bechet into the [[RCA Studios New York#24th St|RCA Victor]] recording studio (on 24th Street in New York City), where Bechet lent his soprano sax to Levine's traditional arrangement of "[[Muskrat Ramble]]". On April 18, 1941, as an early experiment in [[overdubbing]] at Victor, Bechet recorded a version of the pop song "[[The Sheik of Araby]]", playing six different instruments: [[clarinet]], [[soprano saxophone]], [[tenor saxophone]], [[piano]], [[Double bass|bass]], and [[Drum kit|drums]]. A hitherto unissued master of this recording was included in the 1965 LP ''Bechet of New Orleans'', issued by RCA Victor as LPV-510. In the liner notes, George Hoeffer quoted Bechet:
[[File:Jazz ltd band Nov 1947 front back.jpg|thumb|November 1947--[[Bill Reinhardt]] (clarinet), [[Danny Alvin]] (drums), Bechet (soprano sax), Mel Grant (piano), and [[Munn Ware]] (trombone).]]
<blockquote>I started by playing [[The Sheik of Araby|The Sheik]] on piano and played the drums while listening to the piano. I meant to play all the rhythm instruments but got all mixed up and grabbed my soprano, then the bass, then the tenor saxophone, and finally finished up with the clarinet.</blockquote>In 1944, 1946, and 1953, he recorded and performed in concert with the Chicago jazz [[pianist]] and [[Vibraphone|vibraphonist]] [[Max Miller (jazz musician)|Max Miller]]; private recordings from Miller's archive have never been released. These concerts and recordings are described in [[John Chilton]]'s biography ''Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz''.<ref name="Chilton2">{{cite book|last1=Chilton|first1=John|title=Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz|date=1987|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0333443861}}</ref>

With jobs in music difficult to find, he opened a tailor shop with Ladnier. They were visited by musicians and played in the back of the shop. In the 1940s, Bechet played in several bands, but his financial situation did not improve until the end of that decade. By the end of the 1940s, Bechet had tired of struggling to make music in the United States. His contract with Jazz Limited, a Chicago-based record label, was limiting the events at which he could perform (for instance, the label would not permit him to perform at the 1948 [[Festival of Europe]] in [[Nice]]). He believed the jazz scene in the United States had little left to offer him and was getting stale.<ref name="Horricks2" />

In 1958, Bechet performed as a soloist and with various other renowned musicians including [[Buck Clayton]] and [[Sarah Vaughan]] in memorable, spirited concerts in the United States Pavilion at [[Expo 58]], the World's Fair in [[Brussels]], Belgium.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/brussels-fair-1958/316069949 | title=Brussels Fair 1958 by Sidney Bechet and His Quartet }}</ref>

=== Permanent settlement in Paris ===
In 1951, he migrated to France permanently,<ref name=":22" /> after his performance as a soloist at the Paris Jazz Fair caused a surge in his popularity in that country, where he easily found well-paid work. Also, in 1951, he married Elisabeth Ziegler in [[Antibes]].
[[File:Sidney_Bechet_1954_Com_M03-0103-0002.tif|thumb|Bechet in 1954]]
In 1953, he signed a recording contract with [[Disques Vogue]] that lasted for the rest of his life.<ref name="Horricks2" /> He recorded many hit tunes, including "Les Oignons", "Promenade aux Champs-Élysées", and the international hit "[[Petite Fleur]]". He also composed a [[classical ballet]] score in the late [[Romanticism|Romantic style]] of [[Tchaikovsky]] called {{Lang|fr|La nuit est une sorcière}} ("The Night Is a Witch"). Some existentialists in France took to calling him {{Lang|fr|le dieu}} ("the god").<ref name="voodoo2">{{cite book|last1=Filan|first1=Kenaz|title=The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook|date=2011|publisher=Destiny Books|isbn=978-1594774355|location=Rochester, Vermont|chapter=Appendix 2}}</ref>

=== Autobiography and death ===
Shortly before his death, Bechet dictated his autobiography, ''Treat It Gentle'', to Al Rose, a record producer and radio host. He had worked with Rose several times in concert promotions and had a fractious relationship with him. In his autobiography, Bechet's view of himself was starkly different from the one Rose knew.

"The kindly old gentleman in his book was filled with charity and compassion. The one I knew was self-centered, cold, and capable of the most atrocious cruelty, especially toward women."<ref name="rose2">{{cite book|last1=Rose|first1=Al|url=https://archive.org/details/irememberjazzsix00rosea|title=I Remember Jazz: Six Decades Among the Great Jazzmen|date=1987|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=0-8071-2571-7|location=Baton Rouge|pages=[https://archive.org/details/irememberjazzsix00rosea/page/60 60–65]|url-access=registration}}</ref>

Though other internet sources have picked up the claim that Bechet dictated his autobiography to Al Rose, the autobiography itself—''Treat It Gentle'' (Twayne, 1960)—notes that "Among those who helped record and edit the tapes on which this book is based are Joan Reid, Desmond Flower, and John Ciardi." The "Foreword" to the book by Desmond Flower explains in detail how the material from the various interviews was put together into book form, and there is no mention of any involvement by Al Rose in the interviewing or editing process.

Although embellished and frequently inaccurate, ''Treat It Gentle'' remains a staple account for the "insider's view of the New Orleans tradition".<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Cottrell|title=The Saxophone (Yale Musical Instrument Series)|publisher=Yale Musical Instrument Series|year=2013|page=187}}</ref>

Bechet died in [[Garches]], near Paris, of lung cancer on May 14, 1959, on his 62nd birthday. He is buried in a local cemetery. Two other major jazz musicians died that year: [[Billie Holiday]] and [[Lester Young]].<ref name=":02" />

=== Legacy ===
Popular French singer [[Patricia Kaas]] dedicated a song called "A L'Enterrement De Sidney Bechet (The Funeral Of Sidney Bechet)" in which she paid tribute to Sidney Bechet and his work<ref>{{Citation |title=Patricia Kaas – À l'enterrement de Sidney Bechet |url=https://genius.com/Patricia-kaas-a-lenterrement-de-sidney-bechet-lyrics |access-date=2026-01-25}}</ref> The song was featured on her album [[Scène de vie|Scene de Vie]].

In 2013, a [[Bechet (crater)|crater]] on Mercury was named after Bechet.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15138 |title = Bechet |publisher = [[NASA]] |work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |access-date = July 27, 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Sidney Bechet 1897-1959 New Orleans Jazz Pioneer Saxophonist & Clarinetist lived here 1922.jpg|thumb|Plaque dedicated to Bechet]]
[[File:Sidney Bechet - 27 Conway Street Fitzrovia London W1T 6BW.jpg|thumb|Bechet's former home in [[London]]]]
[[File:Rue Sidney Bechet Algiers NOLA.jpg|thumb|Rue Sidney Bechet in [[New Orleans]]]]
In the novel ''[[Steppenwolf (novel)|Steppenwolf]]'' by [[Hermann Hesse]], Bechet was the inspiration for the character "Pablo".<ref name=":1" />

Bechet's music has been included in the soundtracks of about 60 films, including the following: ''[[Flirting (film)|Flirting]]'' (1991), ''[[JFK (film)|JFK]]'' (1991), ''[[Chocolat (2000 film)|Chocolat]]'' (2000), ''[[The Quiet American (2002 film)|The Quiet American]]'' (2002), and ''[[Midnight in Paris]]'' (2011).<ref name=":1" />

[[Philip Larkin]] wrote a poem called "For Sidney Bechet". It can be found in ''The Complete Poems''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Philip |editor1-last=Burnett |editor1-first=Archie |title=The Complete Poems |date=2012 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Girouz |location=New York |isbn=978-0-374-12696-4 |page=54}}</ref> It is written about on the Philip Larkin Society website.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickinson |first1=Peter |title=For Sidney Bechet |url=https://philiplarkin.com/poem-reviews/for-sidney-bechet/ |website=The Philip Larkin Society |access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref>

Van Morrison mentions Sidney Bechet in the song "See Me Through Part II (Just A Closer Walk With Thee)" from the 1990 album ''[[Hymns to the Silence]]'': "...Sidney Bechet on Sunday afternoons in winter/Sidney Bechet, Sunday afternoons in winter..."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morrison |first1=Van |title=See Me Through Part II (Just A Closer Walk With Thee) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc9PWbs3tKU |website=YouTube |date=September 29, 2010 |access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref>

In Antibes, France, a small one-block park is named Sidney Bechet Square in his honor. The park contains a monument with a bust of Bechet and a plaque that reads, "To Sidney BECHET, one of the world's greatest jazz musicians, so honored by his new home. - Sidney J. BARTHELEMY, Mayor of New Orleans, April 16, 1994."

A fictionalized Sidney Bechet appears in two episodes of [[George Lucas]]'s ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]'' portrayed by [[Jeffrey Wright]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=TheRaider.net – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles |url=http://www.theraider.net/films/young_indy/credits.php |access-date=March 19, 2023 |website=www.theraider.net}}</ref>

Additionally, in an interview with Woody Allen, when asked what "dead person he would like to have dinner with", he responded, "... I guess maybe Sidney Bechet."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpniYxRjX3o&t=98s | title=12 Questions for Woody Allen | website=[[YouTube]] | date=November 23, 2011 }}</ref> Bechet continues to live on in the movies of Allen.

== Personal life ==
Bechet was [[Catholic Church|Catholic]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hill|first=Gary|date=April 30, 2007|title=Historic jazz church in New Orleans clings to life|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-church-neworleans-idUSN2936317320070430|access-date=December 3, 2020}}</ref>

Bechet was known for having an abrasive attitude, which has been compared to that of [[Coleman Hawkins]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Tucker|first=Mark|date=1991|title=Review of Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz; The Song of the Hawk: The Life and Recordings of Coleman Hawkins, John Chilton|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051437|journal=American Music|volume=9|issue=3|pages=320–325|doi=10.2307/3051437|jstor=3051437 |issn=0734-4392|url-access=subscription}}</ref> They were both incredibly sure of their relative importance in the music industry during a time in which jazz was losing popularity. They were stubborn and lacked patience with younger artists with less experience or knowledge of the jazz industry.<ref name=":6" />

Bechet briefly took time off from the music industry in 1938 when he opened a tailor shop in New York.<ref name=":1" />

Bechet had three wives: Elizabeth Ziegler (1951–death), Marie-Louise Crawford (1934–1942), and Norma Hale (1918–1929).<ref name=":1" />

==Awards==
* [[DownBeat|''DownBeat'' magazine]] Hall of Fame, 1968<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=http://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/music-database/musician/1765910c3914739fd5eb94e2cfcaf03cda105/biography |title=Radio Swiss Jazz - Music database |access-date=April 1, 2018 |archive-date=March 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327135956/http://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/music-database/musician/1765910c3914739fd5eb94e2cfcaf03cda105/biography |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*Bechet was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1983.<ref name=":1" />
*Awarded a blue plaque outside his former London home in 2014 (pictured).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sidney Bechet awarded blue plaque|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/11250988/Sidney-Bechet-awarded-blue-plaque.html|access-date=November 23, 2021|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=November 25, 2014 }}</ref>

==Discography==

===Singles===
*"Texas Moaner Blues", with [[Louis Armstrong]], 1924
*"Cake Walkin' Babies from Home", with [[Red Onion Jazz Babies]], 1925
*"Got the Bench, Got the Park (But I Haven't Got You)", 1930
*"Blues in Thirds", 1940
*"Dear Old Southland", 1940
*"Egyptian Fantasy", 1941
*"Muskrat Ramble", 1944
*"Blue Horizon", 1944
*"Dutch Swing College Blues", 1954<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Sidney Bechet|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/258422-Sidney-Bechet|access-date=November 17, 2021|website=Discogs|language=en}}</ref>
*"Kansas City Man Blues", 1954<ref name=":3"/>
*"[[Petite Fleur]]", 1959
*"Dans les Rues D'Antibes", 1960<ref name=":3"/>
*"Premier Bal", 1960<ref name=":3"/>
*"Who's Sorry Now", 1961<ref name=":3"/>
*"Weary Blues", 1979<ref name=":3"/>

=== Albums ===

* ''A Jazz Masterwork'', 1948
* ''Sidney Bechet & Claude Luter'', 1950
* ''Jazz Classics Vol. 1'', 1950
* ''Jazz Classics Vol. 2'', 1950
* ''Sidney Bechet - Bunk Johnson: Days Beyond Recall'', 1951
* ''Sidney Bechet, Claude Luter: On Parade'', 1951
* ''Sidney Bechet, Claude Luter, Andre Reweliotty et son Orchestre: Bechet-Souvenirs'', 1951
* ''Sidney Bechet, Muggsy Spanier: Jam Session'', 1952
* ''Sidney Bechet'', 1952
* ''Port of Harlem Six'', 1952
* ''Soprano Sax Solos'', 1952
* ''1941–1944: Sidney Bechet'', 1996<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/1941-1944-mw0000606242 | title=1941-1944 - Sidney Bechet &#124; Album &#124; AllMusic | website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref>
* ''French Movies'', 2014

=== Movies ===
[[File:Sidney Bechet sépulture.jpg|thumb|right|Bechet's grave in Cemetery of [[Garches]], near [[Paris]]]]
Bechet was featured in three films and played a jazz musician.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Sidney Bechet|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0065000/|access-date=November 18, 2021|website=IMDb}}</ref>

* ''[[Série noire (film)|Série noire]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Série noire|url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=128328.html|access-date=December 30, 2015|website=Allocine.fr}}</ref>
* ''L'inspecteur connaît la musique'',<ref name=":5">{{cite web|title=Ah, quelle équipe!|url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=214492.html|access-date=December 30, 2015|website=Allocine.com}}</ref>
* ''Quelle équipe!''<ref name=":5"/>

==Further reading==
*''American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook'' (1953). p.&nbsp;542.
*Bechet, Sidney (1960). ''Treat It Gentle''. Twayne. Reprint, Da Capo, 1978.
*Chilton, John (1987). ''Sidney Bechet, The Wizard of Jazz''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-520623-1.
*Hoefer, George (1946). Article in ''Metronome Magazine'', December 1946.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://syncopatedtimes.com/sidney-bechet-1897-1959/ Sidney Bechet] at the Red Hot Jazz Archive
*[https://archive.today/19991012225419/http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/5853/sid.html Profile with pictures]
*[http://www.unitedmusic.ch/index.php/en/projects/sidney-bechet-in-switzerland Sidney Bechet in Switzerland: A preservation project by the United Music Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105062014/http://www.unitedmusic.ch/index.php/en/projects/sidney-bechet-in-switzerland |date=November 5, 2018 }}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103288 Sidney Bechet recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].
*[https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVAWD1R02AFU4M6I3EWBDCMLTXX-FRANCE-JAZZ-MUSICIAN-SIDNEY-BECHET-BURIED-IN-PARIS-SUBURB-NO/query/sidney France: Jazz Musician Sidney Bechet Buried In Paris Suburb: No Farewell Blues. 1959]
*[https://www.npr.org/2011/06/17/4558038/sidney-bechet-the-sidney-bechet-story NPR: The Sidney Bechet Story]
*[https://jazzfuel.com/sidney-bechet-essential-recordings/ 10 Essential Recordings of Bechet's Tunes]
*{{IMDb name|id=0065000|name=Sidney Bechet}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechet, Sidney}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:20th-century American jazz composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:American Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:African-American jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American emigrants to France]]
[[Category:American jazz clarinetists]]
[[Category:American jazz soprano saxophonists]]
[[Category:American male jazz composers]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:Blue Note Records artists]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in France]]
[[Category:Dixieland clarinetists]]
[[Category:Dixieland saxophonists]]
[[Category:Gennett Records artists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Jazzology Records artists]]
[[Category:Louisiana Creole people]]
[[Category:Okeh Records artists]]
[[Category:Olympia Orchestra members]]
[[Category:Red Onion Jazz Babies members]]
[[Category:The Eagle Band members]]
[[Category:Imperial Orchestra members]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]
[[Category:20th-century American male composers]]