In 1950, Bechet, the New Orleans-born jazz pioneer of French-Creole heritage, settled in Paris, aged 53. He became a star of French showbusiness and the vivid tones of his soprano saxophone still strongly evoke the period. He starred in a number of films, forgettable now except for his music. Three are represented here. The gusto and joie de vivre of his playing, its unhesitating confidence and throbbing vibrato (uncannily similar to that of Edith Piaf), are unique in jazz. There is as much of France as of America in it, and I’m not alone in finding it irresistible.
