A bravura saxophonist himself, Pine sees Bechet as the first saxophone legend.

"A lot of people don't realise what a great musician he was," he says. "People talk about Armstrong. But there was also Bechet. He was a genius.

"When I first heard him his music didn't seem appropriate to my time. But I stuck with him and ultimately realised the greatness of the man. He was really talented and wasn't frightened to travel to share his knowledge. I heard a lot of stories about him from Humphrey Lyttelton."

Born in New Orleans, Bechet's colourful life included being deported after being arrested for assault on his first trip to London in 1919 and spending 11 months in prison after a shooting incident on a subsequent visit to France. Although his fortunes fluctuated on both sides of the Atlantic, the sheer exuberance of his playing never faded. For the last decade of his life he lived in France where he was feted as a jazz hero. After his death in 1959 a statue was erected in Antibes and a square named after him. Bechet left a huge legacy of recordings, but Courtney Pine will not be drawing on them for his Scarborough concert on September 27: "There will be no Bechet standards. The pieces by my septet will be dedicated to and inspired by Bechet without copying him."

Scarborough Festival, Sep 26, 27 and 28. Others on the bill include Clare Teal and the BBC Big Band, Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra, Claire Martin and Alan Barnes.