Editing Sidney Bechet (section)

=== Musical development ===
Bechet played in many New Orleans ensembles using the [[Musical improvisation|improvisational techniques]] of the time ([[obbligato]]s with [[Scale (music)|scales]] and [[arpeggios]] and varying the [[melody]]). 
While working with [[Louis Armstrong]], Bechet was one of the first musicians to develop the [[Swing music|Swing]] style of jazz; he influenced the widening difference between [[jazz]] and [[ragtime]].<ref name=":22" /> Bechet liked to have his sound dominate in a performance, and trumpeters reportedly found it difficult to play alongside him.<ref name="Horricks2">{{cite book|last=Horricks|first=Raymond|url=https://archive.org/details/profilesinjazzfr00horr|title=Profiles in Jazz|publisher=Transaction|year=1991|isbn=9780887384325|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|pages=[https://archive.org/details/profilesinjazzfr00horr/page/1 1–10]|url-access=registration}}</ref>

He performed in parades with [[Freddie Keppard]]'s [[brass band]], the [[Olympia Orchestra]], and in [[John Robichaux]]'s dance orchestra. From 1911 to 1912, he performed with [[Bunk Johnson]] in [[the Eagle Band]] of New Orleans and in 1913–14 with [[King Oliver]] in the Olympia Band. From 1914 to 1917, he was touring and traveling, going as far north as Chicago and frequently performing with [[Freddie Keppard]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

In the spring of 1919, he traveled to New York City and joined [[Will Marion Cook]]'s Syncopated Orchestra. Soon after, the orchestra traveled to Europe, where they performed at the Royal Philharmonic Hall in London. The group was warmly received, and Bechet was especially popular.<ref name="Sidney Bechet and His Long Song2" />

While in London, he discovered the straight [[soprano saxophone]] and developed a style unlike his clarinet [[Musical tone|tone]]. Bechet was the first influential soprano saxophonist, leading to its rising popularity as a jazz instrument.<ref name=":12" />

His saxophone sound could be described as emotional, reckless, and all-encompassing. He often used a broad [[vibrato]], similar to some New Orleans clarinetists at the time. In 1919, a Swiss classical music conductor, [[Ernest Ansermet]], wrote a tribute to Bechet. It was one of the earliest (if not the first) articles about a jazz musician written by an expert in the field of [[classical music]], linking Bechet's music with that of [[Bach]].<ref name="Sidney Bechet and His Long Song2" />

Bechet's first recordings were made in 1923 and 1924.<ref name=":22" /> The session was led by [[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]], a pianist and songwriter, better known at that time for his music publishing and record producing, and his "[[Clarence Williams (musician)|Blue Five]]" (which included [[Louis Armstrong]]).<ref name=":22" /> Bechet recorded "Wild Cat Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues." The former is in a ragtime style with four 16-bar themes, and the latter is a [[Twelve-bar blues|12-bar blues]].<ref name=":12" /> In 1924, Bechet worked with [[Duke Ellington]] for three months and made a significant impact on Ellington's early jazz style.<ref name=":22" /> 
[[Duke Ellington]] called him "the epitome of jazz."<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=YUDKIN|first=JEREMY|date=2010|title=Review of Sidney Bechet: Treat It Gentle; The Life and Times of a Jazz Master|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41201416|journal=Yearbook for Traditional Music|volume=42|pages=237–238|doi=10.1017/S0740155800013023 |jstor=41201416 |s2cid=251633340 |issn=0740-1558}}</ref> However, he never learned how to read music in his lifetime of being a musician.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Signature Series Soprano Saxophone.jpg|thumb|[[Soprano saxophone]]]]