Sidney Bechet, "AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL" (1949)

******************************************************************
"At the Jazz Band Ball" Sidney Bechet's Bluenote Jazzmen
Recorded 1949 for Bluenote 561

First introduced by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1918, written by Larry Shields and Nick LaRocca.

Sidney Bechet was born in New Orleans in 1897 and was a child prodigy on the clarient and soon surpassed his teachers and even as a child, he was playing with some of the top bands in New Orleans. At the age of 20, he arrived in Chicago and played with King Oliver and in 1919 he was touring Europe where he was a great sensation. It was in London that he bought his first soprano saxophone. Back in the United States, he began his recording career and worked with Clarence Williams, Louis Armstrong, Nobel Sissel, and even had a short stint with Duke Ellington.

It was in Europe that he achieved his greatest success and where eventually made his home, but he never forgot the New Orleans tradition that nurtured and inspired him. Bechet died in Paris, France, on his 62nd birthday, May 14, 1959.