Results for "saxophone, tenor"

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

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

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

Herbert Maximillum Haymer

Born: July 24, 1915

This biography is created in 'Loving Memory' of my father, Herbert (Herbie) M. Haymer. It is also dedicated to my wife Nancy, daughters, Cynthia and Lisa, son Bruce, Granddaughters Danielle, Brittany and Shellsea, Grandsons Charles Jr. and JJ and of course Great-Grandson Liam. My father was born on July the 24th, 1915 in Jersey City, New Jersey. It should be noted that his Surname was changed to Haymer when he 'signed' with an agent in 1932 to become a professional musician. The oldest son of William and Sophie Selchau Haymer, my father had two brothers (Bill and Ted) and a sister (Dorothy)

Coleman Hawkins

Born: November 21, 1904

Coleman Hawkins single-handedly brought the saxophone to the prominence in jazz that the instrument enjoys. Before he hit the scene, jazz groups had little use for the instrument. One player (forgot who) said, "with all due respect to Adolph Sax, Coleman Hawkins invented the saxophone." Hawkins, or "Bean", as he was known as, started playing cello at a young age before switching to the saxophone. He was a lifelong listener of classical music, and as a result, his knowledge of music theory was far ahead of his peers. Whereas Louis Armstrong improvised his solos based on the melody, Hawkins based his on the harmony and had a strong sense of rhythm. Hawkins hit New York at the age of 20 and quickly established himself, as he became the star of the Fletcher Henderson band

Wendell Harrison

Born: October 1, 1942

Detroit-based jazz musician Wendell Harrison is a recording artist, performer, teacher, author and entrepreneur. His fame as a clarinetist and saxophonist has spread throughout the United States, Africa, The Caribbean, Middle East, and Europe. His instruction book, the Be Boppers Method Book I with accompanying CD and the

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Results for pages tagged "saxophone, tenor"...

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Scott Hamilton

Born: September 12, 1954

Scott Hamilton is the premier 'mainstream' saxophonist of today. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1954, he came along at the time when the kind of jazz he loved-the small-group swing of such great stylists as Illinois Jacquet and Eddie Lockjaw Davis-was out of fashion, and largely out of the public ear. Scott's handsome sound and impeccable phrasing were a rare commodity among young jazzmen. So when he signed to Concord Records, and began making albums for label boss and mainstream advocate Carl Jefferson, it caused surprise and excitement among both devotees of the style, and in the wider musical world. His first Concord set, [Scott Hamilton is A Good Wind Who IS Blowing Us No Ill] was made in 1977 and took it’s title from an admiring remark from veteran jazz critic Leonard Feather