Results for "saxophone, tenor"

Big Jay McNeely

Born: April 29, 1927

Big Jay McNeely brought the tenor sax to prominence in the golden age of R&B, known as the “King of the Honkers,” for his wild style and outrageous showmanship.. Tenor saxophonist Cecil "Big Jay" McNeely was born in Watts, California, on April 29, 1927, he formed his own band with jazz legends Sonny Criss (alto sax) and Hampton Hawes (piano) while still in high school. But in late 1948, when he was asked to record for Savoy Records, he abandoned jazz for something more raucous and struck paydirt when his second release, a honked-up instrumental called "Deacon's Hop," went to #1 on the national R&B charts in February 1949

Larry McKenna

Born: July 21, 1937

One of the world’s finest jazz saxophone players, Larry McKenna is known for his gorgeous tenor saxophone sound, the beauty of his balladry, and his fluid, bebop-inspired improvisations. After six decades in his profession, his international reputation as both a masterful jazz improviser and educator is firmly established. Over the years, Larry has performed and recorded with many jazz stars including Woody Herman, Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Barry Harris, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Harry Allen, Terell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Warren Vaché, Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker, Wynton Marsalis and Frank Sinatra.

Virginia Mayhew

Born: May 14, 1959

Saxophonist-composer-arranger Virginia Mayhew has been an active participant in the New York jazz scene since 1987. A native of San Francisco, Virginia came to New York to enroll in the New School's Jazz Performance program, and was awarded its Zoot Sims Memorial Scholarship. In the course of her career, Virginia has worked with such renowned artists as Earl "Fatha" Hines, Cab Calloway, Frank Zappa, James Brown, Norman Simmons, Al Grey, Junior Mance, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Doc Cheatam, Joe Williams, Leon Parker, Clark Terry, Terry Gibbs, Kenny Barron, Chico O'Farrill, Dena DeRose, Ingrid Jensen, Claudio Roditi, and many others. Virginia has appeared in most of the City's jazz venues, including the Blue Note, the Village Vanguard, the Village Gate, Sweet Basil, Sweet Rhythm, Birdland, Carnegie Hall, the Jazz Standard, Lincoln Center, and Town Hall, as well as performing throughout the United States, Europe, the Newly Independent States, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Virginia has performed at many jazz festivals as a leader, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, JVC Jazz Festival, Floating Jazz Festival, Verizon Jazz Festival, Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center, San Francisco Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, East Coast Jazz Festival, Panasonic Jazz Festival, Guinness Cork (Ireland) Jazz Festival, Verizon Music Festival, Perth International Arts Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival, Llangollen International Music Festival, Jazz At Sea, and other smaller festivals. Virginia has traveled twice as a representative of the United States as a Jazz Ambassador

Warne Marsh

Born: October 26, 1927

Marsh came from an affluent background: his father was the cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh (1892-1941), and his mother Elizabeth was a violinist. Mae Marsh, the actress, was his aunt. He was tutored by Lennie Tristano, and along with Lee Konitz became one of the pre-eminent saxophonists of the Tristano- inspired "Cool School". He was often recorded in the company of other Cool School musicians, and remained one of the most faithful to the Tristano philosophy of improvisation, the faith in the purity of the long line, the avoidance of licks and emotional chain-pulling, the concentration on endlessly mining the same small body of jazz standards

Rick Margitza

Born: October 24, 1961

Rick Margitza, who has long been regarded as one of the « Young Lyons » of the International Jazz Scene, is nowadays one of the most respected musicians of his generation. Excellent tenor and soprano saxophonist, mostly inspired by John Coltrane, Michael Brecker and Wayne Shorter, he has managed to expand and develop his unique voice, highly poetic and sharply incisive. He started on the violin when he was four. His grandfather was a cellist and his father a violinist with the Detroit Symphony. He then studied classical piano for a bit, and also played oboe before switching to tenor in high school

Steve Marcus

Born: September 18, 1939

Steve Marcus, a jazz saxophonist who was an early exponent of the style that came to be known as fusion. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Marcus, who played tenor and soprano saxophones, had worked with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Herbie Mann by the time he recorded his first album as a leader in 1968. "Tomorrow Never Knows," produced by Mann, was not the typical journeyman jazzman's maiden effort. With a supporting cast that included the rock-influenced electric guitarist Larry Coryell and a repertory that included the Byrds' hit "Eight Miles High" and the Beatles song that gave the album its title, it was one of the first attempts by a jazz musician to find common ground with the growing phenomenon of psychedelic rock

Tony Malaby

Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Tony Malaby has been permanently based in New York since 1995 and has been a member of many notable jazz groups including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, Mark Helias' Open Loose, Fred Hersch's quintet and Walt Whitman project, Michell Portal's Birdwatcher, various projects with Daniel Humair and bands led by Mario Pavone, Tim Berne, Chris Lightcap, Kris Davis, Angelica Sanchez, Michael Attias and Marty Ehrlich. His debut cd "Sabino"(Arabesque) made the NY Times and Philadelphia City Paper's top ten jazz lists for 2000

Frank Lowe

Born: June 24, 1943

Frank Lowe - tenor saxophone (1943 2003) Tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe came out of Memphis inspired by the bluesy sound of King Curtis, but went on to become one the premier free jazz players in New York beginning with his association with Sun Ra in the mid sixties. Frank Lowe grew up in Memphis and soaked up the remarkable musical currents of that city in the early 1960's. The saxophonists Charles Lloyd and Hank Crawford and the singer Carla Thomas were his friends and neighbors; his first music teacher outside of school was Packy Axton, the part owner of Stax Records, who also played saxophone

Erica Lindsay

Born: June 5, 1955

Erica Lindsay, tenor saxophonist and composer, currently leads her own quartet featuring Francesca Tanksley on piano, and co-leads a quartet with pianist Sumi Tonooka that features Bob Braye and Rufus Reid. Two new recordings with these ensembles respectively are, "Yes - Live at the Rosendale Cafe" and the soon to be released, "Initiation". She also currently performs with the Oliver Lake Big Band, the Baikida Carroll Quintet, the Howard Johnson, Hojo5 Quintet, the Jeff Siegel Quartet and the San Francisco-based group, Trace Elements. Her most recent recordings with these ensembles are, "Cloth" (Oliver Lake Big Band), "Magical Spaces" and "Live in Europe" (Jeff Siegel Quartet), "Marionettes on a High Wire," (Baikida Carroll Quintet), and "Parallel Universe" (Trace Elements)

Hank Levy

Born: September 27, 1927

ABOUT HANK LEVY Hank came of age in the 1940s, when big bands crisscrossed the country playing one-nighters, and when people in Baltimore and other cities regularly went out dancing in nightclubs and ballrooms. There were many excellent bands in the area staffed by musicians in the armed forces and musicians and ideas circulated freely among these groups. Levy was part of this milieu (he attended the Navy School of Music during his three-year hitch) and took full advantage of it in his later career as a teacher, composer, and bandleader. A Baltimore native, Hank graduated from Baltimore City College, where he led his first band, then attended several colleges, including an unhappy year at the Peabody Conservatory