the clarinet and saxophone player Sidney Bechet on the radio. His nickname came in fact from one of his biggest idols, the clarinet-player Woody Herman.
At the age of nineteen, he became the writer for important television programmes, and then naturally gifted, he turned to acting and cinema.
At the end of the 1960s, he made his first début as a director and achieved resounding popularity notably with the film “Annie Hall” that was to win him four Academy Awards including the Oscar for best film, best director and best scenario.
He never abandoned his great passion for jazz performing every Monday in Manhattan with his “New Orleans” Jazz Band, and in 1996, he undertook a European tour, which led to the documentary « Wild Man Blues ».
After two albums entitled « The Bunk Project » and the B.O. of « Wild Man Blues », he will be back in Paris to liven up Christmas Day which he loves: “For me it is a great honour to play in Paris because the first jazz record that I listened to was of a concert given by Sidney Bechet in France.»
The show promises to be pure enchantment. Every time Woody Allen and his “New Orleans” Jazz Band come to France, they are greeted with tumultuous applause from an appreciative audience.

NG

Photo D.R.