>
>CB: Yes, I knew of Sidney Bechet, but somehow I didn't know he was such a
>thug.
>
>
A thug? He was arrogant and quirky. His early work was within hooting
distance of Armstrong's, which is saying something, and the late 30s-early
40s Victor recordings are great, but something in his personality preventing
him from either developing, as, e.g., Hawkins did, or from finding artistic
fulfullment in what he was happy doing, as Armstrong or (maybea closer
analogy) Hines dis in their later years, when modern jazz had ins ome ways
passed them by. Bechet may not have been a nice man. Neither was Jelly Roll
Morton. But a thug? That is strong language. --jks
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