New Orleans native Sidney Bechet, known around the world as a jazz clarinet and soprano saxophone virtuoso. A profile by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park called him one of the four most influential jazz musicians during the art form’s first 50 years (along with Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton).

Born on May 14, 1897, Bechet grew up in the 7th Ward and took up music at an early age. He studied from and worked alongside jazz pioneers Joe “King” Oliver, Bunk Johnson, Freddie Keppard, Clarence Williams and Duke Ellington, who later referred to Bechet as “the epitome of jazz.”

MTO