Results for "saxophone, tenor"

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

Born: March 2, 1922

Eddie Lockjaw Davis was one musician who provided a link from the big band era through to the soul jazz phenomenon of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Davis developed one of the most unmistakable tenor sax sounds in post war jazz. With a full bodied yet reedy tone that was equally at home in rhythm & blues settings as more modern contexts, his playing always had a direct, singing quality that was a huge influence on the next generation of sax men. Davis began to make his mark on the jazz scene in New York when he worked at Clark Monroe's Uptown House in the late 30s. Despite this establishment's close ties with the emergence of bebop a few years later, Davis' tenor saxophone playing was rooted in swing and the blues, and early in his career he displayed a marked affinity with the tough school of Texas tenors

Ravi Coltrane

Born: August 6, 1965

Ravi Coltrane- tenor and soprano saxophonist, bandleader, and composer - has fronted a variety of jazz lineups, recorded critically-hailed albums as leader, produced recordings by other artists - including his mother, worked as sideman for jazz luminaries, overseen important jazz reissues, and founded an independent record label. Seventeen years since finding his life's path, it seems music was Ravi's destiny from the outset. Born the second son of John and Alice Coltrane in 1965 in Long Island, New York and raised in the Los Angeles area, he was named after Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar

Buddy Collette

Born: August 6, 1921

When it comes to unsung jazz heroes, Buddy Collette's talents on tenor saxophone, flute, and clarinet are as close to unmatched as it gets. A gifted composer of classical music in addition to his jazz pedigree, Collette continues to fly almost defiantly under the radar of greater renown. William Marcel Collette was born on August 6, 1921 in the Watts district of Los Angeles. Along with saxophonist Dexter Gordon bassist Charles Mingus, and drummer Chico Hamilton, he helped keep bebop alive in the city's historic Central Avenue neighborhood. Buddy also played an important role with the development of the cool jazz movement

George Coleman

Born: March 8, 1935

No tenor saxophonist better epitomizes the robust muscularity of that heavyweight instrument of jazz expression than George Coleman. With brilliant technique and a deeply soulful tone firmly rooted in his hometown of Memphis, George has performed with many of jazz’ most legendary figures and influenced countless saxophonists during his half century in music. Growing up in Memphis’ rich musical environment of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, alongside such notables as Booker Little, Harold Mabern, Frank Strozier, Jamil Nasser, Hank Crawford, Phineas Newborn Jr., and blues immortal B.B. King, Coleman began to teach himself to play the alto saxophone in 1950, upon being profoundly affected by the music of Charlie Parker. So prodigious was his talent that George was soon performing locally and in 1952, at the age of 17, was invited to tour with B.B

Al Cohn

Born: November 24, 1925

Cohn was initially known for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff. Unlike his the better known tenors Sims and Getz, Cohn contributed arrangements to the Herman band. After leaving the Herman group Cohn went on to play with a variety of other musicians but his most well known association was with Zoot Sims whom he co-led a quintet starting in 1956. They continued to play together sporadically until the death of Sims. The high point of their recorded output can be found on "You 'n' Me" which was released on Mercury Records in 1960. In addition to his work as a jazz tenor saxophonist, Al Cohn wrote arrangements for the Broadway productions of "Raisin" and "Sophisticated Ladies". His son Joe Cohn is a talented guitarist. Cohn died in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Arnett Cobb

Born: August 10, 1918

One of the classic Texas Tenors, there was always excitement elicited by Cobb’s uninhibited, blasting style which earned him the label "Wild Man of the Tenor Sax."

Arnette Cleophus Cobbs, was born on August 10, 1918, in Houston, Texas. He was taught piano by his grandmother and went on to study violin before taking up tenor saxophone in the Wheatley High School band. When he was fifteen he joined Louisiana band leader Frank Davis’s band and performed in the Houston area and throughout Louisiana during the summer. He worked with trumpeter Chester Boone for two years and left to become a founding member of the Milton Larkin Orchestra in 1936.

James Clay

Born: September 8, 1935

James Clay is a name new to many modern-day jazz listeners. But Clay's earliest fame came in the late 1950s when the young woodwind expert arrived on the Los Angeles jazz scene as a contemporary of this fellow Texan Ornette Coleman. Never an avant-garde experimenter like Coleman, Clay was immediately heard by his peers as a gifted mainstream player with ears open to a wide harmonic range. Clay went into obscurity for nearly 30 years before making a comeback. A fine tenor saxophonist who was part of the long tradition of Texas tenors, Clay was born in Dallas. Although early on he mostly played r&b and blues-oriented music, he was an early associate of Ornette Coleman and was open to playing in freer settings

Eddie Chamblee

Born: February 24, 1920

Eddie “Long Gone” Chamblee was one of the stalwarts of the solid Rhythm & Blues scene to come out of Chicago in the post war years, and made quite a name for himself on the record charts while gaining a reputation as a dynamic performer on the club circuit as well. Born Edward Leon Chamblee, on 24 February 1920, in Atlanta, Georgia, he was raised in Chicago. He started on sax by age of twelve though music was Chamblee's second career choice, later deciding to study law at Roosevelt University and playing local gigs at night. In the early 40s, during his army service, he became deeply involved in music, playing the tenor saxophone, and performing in, and sometimes directing, army bands

James Carter

Born: January 3, 1969

Sometimes it takes an extraordinary talent to inspire an unprecedented piece of music. For Puerto Rican-born composer Roberto Sierra, the epiphany struck in the midst of a tenor saxophone solo by James Carter, who was appearing as the featured soloist with legendary soprano Kathleen Battle. Long fascinated by the horn, Sierra immediately realized he had encountered a master capable of playing anything he could imagine. Working closely with Carter over several months, he composed a four-part concerto that seamlessly integrates the forms and harmonic language of contemporary classical music, Latin rhythms, and jazz’s improvisational imperative

Theodore George Brown

Born: December 1, 1927

Cool-influenced tenor saxophonist who once studied under Lennie Tristano. Brown learned banjo and violin from his father, and clarinet and tenor sax from his uncle. After playing in army bands from 1945 - 1947 nd the in Hollywood from '47 - '48, Brown moved to New York. He worked with Tristano and fellow pupils and associates Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh from 1955 - 1957. During that time he also recorded a session fo Vanguard and worked with Ronnie Ball, plus a date in Hollywood with Marsh. He later returned to New York and worked extensively in clubs. Brown recorded with Konitz in 1959, and again in 1976, while heading his own group in the late '70s.