Sidney Bechet (pronounced Be-shay), who looks like a sleepy Pullman porter, has been talking through a clarinet for more than 40 years. Last week, in a smoky joint called Jimmy Ryan’s on Manhattan’s ...

Soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet was one of jazz's most complex giants. Born in New Orleans in 1897, four years earlier than Louis Armstrong, Bechet made his first recordings in early 1920, three ...