Results for "saxophone, tenor"

Harold Land

Born: December 18, 1928

The West Coast saxophonist known for his associations with the masterful quintet led by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in the mid-50's and with the internationally acclaimed quintet he co-led with Bobby Hutcherson in the late '60s. He engaged in an individualistic style and an expressive tone, mixing compelling melody readings with alluring improvisations. Land, born in Houston and raised in San Diego, moved to Los Angeles in the early '50s. In 1954, he joined the famed Brown-Roach quintet, with which he toured the United States and recorded several albums for EmArcy (all of which are available as reissue CDs)

Marty Krystall

Born: April 12, 1951

Born in 1951 and raised in Los Angeles, Marty's early interest in music was prompted at age 5 by chasing his baby brother in circles under a grand piano as their father played Chopin, Beethoven and Scriabin. His father also installed a remote loudspeaker in his bedroom so he could sleep with the classics, as well as music by Stravinsky, Shoenberg, Webern and other modernists. His first instrument was the clarinet, followed by saxophone in high school, and later flute and oboe. First jobs were in community opera orchestras and symphonies while still in grade school, but by this time Krystall also developed an interest in popular music and learned to transpose piano music on the Bb clarinet during lunch hour with piano players sight-reading pop, rock and jazz in the school auditorium

Richie Kamuca

Born: July 23, 1930

Richie Kamuca - tenor saxophone - (1930 - 1977) A superb tenor saxophonist who is another of those jazz musicians who deserved better recognition, Richie Kamuca had a reputation based on his tone, soloing capabilities and solid studio work. Kamuca though from back east, was strongly associated with the west coast jazz scene, but before his move west he played and was a star soloist with Stan Kenton in 1953 and then Woody Herman from 1954 through ’56. It was with Herman’s outfit during 1955 that he was included in the famed Four Brothers that included Al Cohn and Bill Perkins, they recorded an album for RCA which is a classic. His move to the west coast found him joining up with Chet Baker, Maynard Ferguson, the Lighthouse All-Stars (1957-1958), Shorty Rogers, and Shelly Manne, (1959-1961) with whom he appeared on the heralded album “At The Blackhawk” in 1959. By 1962 he was back in New York, and working with Gerry Mulligan, Gary McFarland, and Roy Eldridge, (1966-1971) but after that he headed back to the west coast to steady studio work. Richie Kamuca left us a brief but very distinguished recorded legacy whether as a sideman on albums, or on his own as leader

Budd Johnson

Born: December 14, 1910

One of the earliest Texas tenors, arranging boss of the Earl Hines Grand Terrace Orchestra, and pivotal swing-to-bop figure, Budd Johnson distributed his gifts through several eras of jazz. He was a major composer and arranger and a saxophonist whose style fit as comfortably into bebop as it did into swing. Albert J. (Budd) Johnson was born in Dallas on December 14, 1910. His father was a choir director and cornetist who taught him piano at a young age. By Johnson's teenage years he had switched to drums and was playing with his brother, Keg Johnson, in bands around town. Eventually the two started their own group, the Moonlight Melody Six

Willis "Gator" Jackson

Born: April 25, 1932

Willis “Gator” Jackson originally established himself as a honking R&B tenor saxophonist before modifying his style and becoming a success in hard bop/soul-jazz. Jackson was born in Florida, where he played as a teen- ager with the celebrated trumpeter Fats Navarro and other future jazz stars. He turned down offers of employment from Lionel Hampton and Andy Kirk in order to complete a college education at Florida A&M. Jackson initially played locally until he got his big break and joined Cootie Williams in 1948. Jackson was showcased honking and screaming throughout the two-sided recording “Gator Tail” which earned him the nickname of “Gator” and led to him making his first records as a leader in 1950

Illinois Jacquet

Born: October 31, 1922

Illinois Jacquet is considered to be one of the most influential tenor saxophonists in the history of jazz music. Born on October 31, 1922, in Broussard, Louisiana, Jean Baptiste Illinois Jacquet, at the age of 19 on the very first recording of his career, spawned an entirely new style and sound for the tenor saxophone. His classic solo on “Flying Home” recorded with the Lionel Hampton Band at Decca Records in New York City, on May 26, 1942, catapulted Jacquet to international fame and the solo became more famous than the song itself. All saxophonists learned to play Jacquet’s solo, every band recorded it, and people all over the world were humming this most famous solo in jazz history. Two years later, on July 2, 1944, while improvising with Nat King Cole on piano and Les Paul on guitar for a benefit concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, Jacquet began to play a range of notes he had never played before

Bull Moose Jackson

Born: April 22, 1919

Bull Moose Jackson's hit records in the 40's and ‘50’s were such lively, good-natured, toe-tappin' tunes that today, over 60 years later, they still draw new fans to the field of Rhythm & Blues. An originator of the Honkers and Shouters era, he was lucky enough to have benefited from a triumphant comeback in his career and enjoy first hand the effect of his music on a new generation of aficionados. Born in Cleveland in 1919, Benjamin Clarence Jackson took up the saxophone instead of the violin that his parents wanted him to play. He started his first band, The Harlem Hotshots, while he was still in high school, with his friend Freddie Webster

Bill Holman

Born: May 21

Born Willis Leonard Holman on May 21, 1927 in Olive, CA, near Santa Ana, Bill Holman took up clarinet in junior high school and tenor saxophone in high school by which time he was leading his own band. After serving in the Navy and studying engineering, he decided in the late '40s that he wanted to write big band music and studied for a while at the Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles with Dave Robertson and Dr. Alfred Sendrey. He also studied composition privately with Russ Garcia and saxaphone with Lloyd Reese.

In 1949 he played with the Ike Carpenter Band, in 1951, he was writing for Charlie Barnet, and in 1952 he began his association with Stan Kenton, for whom he wrote and played for many years. During the '50s, he was also active in the West Coast jazz movement, playing in small bands led by Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne, and co-leading a quintet with Mel Lewis in 1958.

Joe Henderson

Born: April 24, 1937

The tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson was born on April 24, 1937 in a small city called Lima Ohio midway between Dayton and Toledo. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Lima in a family of 15 children where he was exposed to a variety of musical styles. By the time he was a high school student he was already arranging and writing music for the school band and other local outfits. It was in high school that a music teacher introduced him to the tenor saxophone. After graduation he enrolled first at the Kentucky State College to study music and then moved on to Wayne State University in Detroit. There he had as classmates several future jazz greats such as Yusef Lateef and Donald Byrd. From 1960-1962 he enlisted in the US army where he led several small jazz groups and won first place in a musical competition and was sent on a tour to entertain the troops all over Japan and Europe where he met a few of the expatriate musicians.

Jimmy Heath

Born: October 25, 1926

Jimmy Heath has long been recognized as a brilliant instrumentalist and a magnificent composer and arranger. Jimmy is the middle brother of the legendary Heath Brothers (Percy Heath/bass and Tootie Heath/drums), and is the father of James 'Mtume', Roslyn and Jeffery. He has performed with nearly all the jazz greats of the last 50 years, from Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis to Wynton Marsalis. In 1948 at the age of 21, he performed in the First International Jazz Festival in Paris with McGhee, sharing the stage with Coleman Hawkins, Slam Stewart, and Erroll Garner. One of Heath’s earliest big bands (1947-1948) in Philadelphia included John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Specs Wright, Cal Massey, Johnny Coles, Ray Bryant, and Nelson Boyd