At Paris' Olympia music hall, vaudeville was in full flower. There were acrobats, unicyclists, a juggler, Mexican guitarists. But the attraction that filled the 2,000-seat house last week was strictly jazz, in the venerable person of Sidney Bechet, 57, Paris' resident jazz professor and one of the city's most famed citizens.
Backstage on opening night, Sidney's white-thatched head was bent over in pain. "I can't go on," he moaned. "It's my stomach. Get a doctor." "But you're on in ten minutes," pleaded the manager. "I'll never make it," cried Sidney. Then the manager noticed...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
