Results for "saxophone, alto"

Carlos Ward

Born: May 1, 1940

Carlos Ward (born in Ancón, Panama) is a jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He is best known as a sideman. His first instrument was the clarinet at age 13 when he lived in Seattle, Washington. Later he attended the Navy School of Music and worked with Albert Mangelsdorff when he was stationed in Germany. His first major effort was his work with John Coltrane in the period 1965-66, although not appearing on any records. He had long-lasting association with Don Cherry: from The Third World (also with Abdullah Ibrahim) through his appearance as featured soloist on the 1973 recording of Cherry's Relativity Suite to the band Nu during the 1980s and beyond. His duet association with pianist Abdullah Ibrahim has also been significant to his career

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

Born: December 18, 1917

From the days in the mid-1930s when he was a teenaged singer and saxophonist in the Houston band of Chester Boone, Cleanhead had his own way with the blues. He was good enough as a young man to tour with blues artists Big Bill Broonzy and Lil Green and then to join trumpeter Cootie Williams’s band. In the Forties he infused his alto with bebop and led his own big band and a sextet that included John Coltrane, who was influenced by Vinson’s expansive style. His “Cherry Red” with Williams made him popular for a while, but it wasn’t until Cannonball Adderley created new exposure for Vinson in the early Sixties that he began to be noticed again by large numbers of people

Justin Robinson

Born: August 14, 1968

Alto saxophonist Justin Robinson was born August 14, 1968, in Manhattan. He first picked up a horn at the age of 13, and honed his sound while attending the High School of Music and Arts (LaGuardia High School) in New York. Robinson developed a passion for the alto sax and, from the influences of Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean, crafted his own distinctive sound. Robinson has collaborated with eminent artists such as the Harper Brothers, Cecil Brooks III, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Ross, Little Jimmy Scott, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, and most recently, The Roy Hargrove Big Band in addition to the Roy Hargrove Quintet. Justin Robinson wields a hefty portfolio: joined Harper Brothers at 18, debuted on Verve at 22, a decade's-worth of star sideman gigs

Vi Redd

Born: September 20, 1928

An accomplished altoist and vocalist, Vi Redd's impressive music career has flourished for over four decades. A veteran who has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie to Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Marian McPartland, she has been acknowledged far too rarely for the sterling qualities of her music. From her performances with the legendary Count Basie to her personal friendship with the late Sarah Vaughn, Ms. Redd is well-known and well-respected within the annals of jazz. Daughter of New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder, Alton Redd, Vi Redd was born in Los Angeles and was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father who was one of the paramount figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene

Loren Pickford

Grammy nominated saxophonist, flutist, pianist, vocalist, composer, and recording artist, Loren Pickford, has had a multifaceted career as his travels have led him through a virtual tour of American music ranging from modern jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, Brazilian music and New Orleans rhythm and blues. Loren has performed in jazz festivals, special concerts, hotels and a host of other professional venues world-wide, and has wowed critics with his musical abilities. He has composed and performed scores for movies (Warner Bros.), documentaries (PBS-Public Broadcasting Service), CBS, radio presentations (NPR-National Public Radio), Broadway, and modern classical impressionistic dance scores for world renowned dance troupes. He has recorded seven CDs which have garnered him high critical praise. He has been an active working member of the musical scenes in Kansas City, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Louisville, Amsterdam, and Paris

Art Pepper

Born: September 1, 1925

Alto Saxophonist Art Pepper, a native of Gardena California, played in the overtly emotional manner that came to define the West Coast style. His solo approach was always passionate, from early recordings made with Stan Kenton's orchestra during his years with the band (1943 and 1946-52) and in jam sessions on LA’s Central Avenue.

Records and club work with Shorty Rogers and his Giants beginning in 1951 provided more room for his solo skills, and by 1952 he began cutting more intimate and open quartet and quintet sessions under his own name. By this time he had already developed a dependence on alcohol, pills, and heroin that led to an erratic lifestyle and (in 1952) the first of several arrests and incarcerations. For the remainder of the decade, Pepper alternated stretches in prison with bursts of recording activity. Two of these

Charlie Parker

Born: August 29, 1920

The only child of Charles and Addie Parker, Charlie Parker was one of the most important and influential saxophonists and jazz players of the 1940’s. When Parker was still a child, his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where jazz, blues and gospel music were flourishing. His first contact with music came from school, where he played baritone horn with the school’s band. When he was 15, he showed a great interest in music and a love for the alto saxophone. Soon, Parker was playing with local bands until 1935, when he left school to pursue a music career. From 1935 to 1939, Parker worked in Kansas City with several local jazz and blues bands from which he developed his art

Frank Morgan

Born: December 23, 1933

It is a real rarity for a jazz musician to have his career interrupted for three decades and then be able to make a complete comeback. Frank Morgan showed a great deal of promise in his early days, but it was a long time before he could fulfill his potential. The son of guitarist Stanley Morgan (who played with the Ink Spots), he took up clarinet and alto early on. Morgan moved to Los Angeles in 1947 and was approached by Duke Ellington who wanted the then 15-year-old Frank to go on the road with his band. Frank's father wanted his son to finish school so the Ellington gig never materialized, but by the time he was 17, Frank was working at LA's Club Alabam, backing the likes of Josephine Baker and Billie Holiday

Jemeel Moondoc

Born: August 5, 1951

A powerful and vastly underrated avant-garde alto saxophonist, Jemeel Moondoc blended the free-form melodic thought of Ornette Coleman and the sharp edge of Jackie McLean or Charles Tyler with the sort of ferocious "energy playing" usually reserved for tenorists. Moondoc began playing piano as a child, studied clarinet and flute, and settled on alto around age 16; he subsequently studied with Cecil Taylor at various colleges in the early '70s. In 1972, he moved to New York, where he formed Ensemble Muntu with trumpeter Roy Campbell, bassist William Parker, and drummer Rashid Baker. The group recorded for its own Muntu label in the late '70s, and Moondoc also led solo sessions for labels like Soul Note and Cadence through the early '80s. However, financial difficulties forced Moondoc to break up his large ensemble (the Jus Grew Orchestra) and essentially retire from music for over a decade, working as an architect's assistant

Bobby Militello

Born: March 25, 1950

Bobby Militello has played with many artists for the last 4 decades, along with leading his own groups. Since 1982 he has been playing alto & flute with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and has recorded over 20 cds, played with almost every major orchestra in the U.S., Canada and Europe, appeared in many International jazz festivals, television and radio shows. A childhood dream come true, his tenure with Dave Brubeck has proven to be one of the highlights of his life and career. From 1975 to 1979, Bobby played with Maynard Ferguson, also a childhood dream, on baritone sax and flute. During his tenure with Maynard, he appeared in the Downbeat Readers polls from 1976 to 1979 on bari and flute and received critical acclaim in numerous articles and reviews throughout the United States and Canada