Sidney Catlett, born January 17, 1910, Evansville, Indiana, and who died March 25, 1951, Chicago, Illinois, was a jazz drummer. He is often called “Big Sid Catlett” due to his large frame. After starting at the piano, he switched to drums and began formal education when his family moved from Indiana to Chicago. Darnell Howard was his first employer in Chicago. He moved to New York City as an adult and worked alongside Benny Carter and Fletcher Henderson. He joined Benny Goodman’s band in 1941, and then joined Teddy Wilson’s Sextet. He recorded an album in 1944 with Harry Gibson, the pianist. He had his own band, played with Louis Armstrong’s All Stars between 1947 and 1949, and was his drummer of choice. He was a versatile musician, playing dixieland and bop. He developed pneumonia in 1951. He also died from a heart attack in the same year while visiting his friends backstage at an Oran Page benefit concert. He was inducted into both the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1996. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.