Died On This Date (May 14, 1959) Sidney Bechet / Jazz Great
themusicsover Sidney Bechet
May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959
Sidney Bechet was one of jazz’s greatest soloists. He began playing as a young teen in New Orleans, and by the time he was 20, he was traveling the world and making his mark on both the saxophone and clarinet. He was a prolific composer as well. Bechet’s life was not without controversy as evident by the pistol duel he once instigated in Paris. Bechet evidently had a notoriously bad temper. He was jailed and later deported. Bechet died on his 62nd birthday, May 14, 1959.
British jazz musician and host of the Radio 4 comedy program, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. He began playing the trumpet in 1936 and continued to perform live in recent years. In 1956, Lyttelton was the first jazz musician to enter the pop Top 20 with his Bad Penny Blues which was produced by 
Sir John Dankworth was a highly regarded English jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. Dankworth gravitated toward music while still a child, so he took piano, violin, and finally, clarinet lessons. As a teen, attended the Royal Academy of Music, and by the late ’40s, he was an up-and-coming star of the British jazz scene. During his early years, he played with the likes of