Sidney Bechet, (born May 14, 1897, New Orleans—died May 14, 1959, Paris), jazz musician known as a master of the soprano saxophone. Sidney Bechet was a unique figure in jazz history. A masterful soprano-saxophonist and clarinetist, he recorded the first significant jazz solos (other than pianists). Bechet, whose fiery personality was sometimes a liability, was a dominant player who preferred that the trumpeter in his bands state a simple melodic lead so he could create virtuosic counter-melodies around him. Along with trumpeter Louis Armstrong, Bechet was one of the first musicians to improvise with jazz-swing feeling. He intelligently crafted logical lines atop the New Orleans-style ensemble, double-timing and improvising forcefully and with authority. Bechet produced a large, warm tone with a wide and rapid vibrato. It was his mastery of drama and his use of critically timed deviations in pitch (note bending) that had the greatest long-lasting influence