Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet (born 1897 in New Orleans, Louisiana; died 1959 in Paris, France) was a titan of early New Orleans jazz and the primary pioneer of the soprano saxophone. A contemporary of Louis Armstrong, Bechet possessed a massive, instantly recognizable tone characterized by a fast, heavy vibrato. While fundamentally a jazz improviser, Bechet's phrasing was drenched in the blues; he utilized the vocalized bends, growls, and emotional depth of blues singers and translated them to a woodwind instrument.