Results for "saxophone, tenor"

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.

Ari Brown

Born: January 2, 1944

Versatility has characterized the career of Ari Brown, a Chicago-based reedman and occasional pianist who plays hard bop and post-bop as convincingly as he plays avant-garde jazz. After growing up on the city's South Side and graduating from high school in the early '60s, Brown attended Chicago's Wilson College, where he met Jack DeJohnette, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, and others who would later become members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Brown played piano in mostly soul and blues bands until 1965, when he took up the sax and starting becoming seriously interested in jazz

Tina Brooks

Born: June 7, 1932

Tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks was one of the unsung geniuses of the horn, a brilliant soloist with a pure, smooth tone and a mind that created patterns of great intricacy, logic and beauty. Almost his entire output as a sideman and leader was for Blue Note. His obscurity was a tragedy for the music as well as for him. Harold Lloyd “Tina” Brooks and his twin brother Harry were born to David and Cornelia Brooks in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on June 7, 1932. They were the youngest of eight children. This close-knit family migrated en masse to the Bronx in New York City in 1944, when Harold was 12 years old

Hugh Brodie

Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Illinois Jacquet were just a few of the musicians that were in Hugh's dreams as a boy. Little did he know that he would be playing with Jacquet in the 1980's. Yet, even before he could afford his 3 dollar lessons, Hugh Brodie would fantasize about becoming one of the great jazz musicians. Hugh's first exposure to the blues came when he was very young in the fields of North Carolina. He worked on his cousin's farm and listed to the workers as they sang the blues in the blazing sun tending to the watermelon and sugar cane. Later, in his early teens, Hugh was amazed by the way the members of the Sanctified Church in Newark N.J. used music in their worship

Michael Brecker

Born: March 29, 1949

Michael Brecker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and exposed to jazz at an early age by his father, an amateur jazz pianist. Among the generation of jazz musicians that saw rock music not as the enemy but as a viable musical option, Brecker began studying clarinet, then moved to alto saxophone in school, eventually settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument. After only a year at Indiana University, Michael Brecker moved to New York City in 1970 where he carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic and exciting jazz soloist. He first made his mark at age 21 as a member of the jazz/rock band Dreams—a band that included his older brother Randy, trombonist Barry Rogers, drummer Billy Cobham, Jeff Kent and Doug Lubahn

Ralph Bowen

Saxophonist Ralph Bowen has made his mark on the New York jazz scene for over three decades, while bringing his "casual perfectionism" to clubs, concert halls, and festivals worldwide. Bowen's discography of over 70 titles includes associations with Orrin Evans, Michel Camilo, Horace Silver, Renee Rosnes, Kenny Garrett, Steve Wilson, Kenny Davis, Michael Mossman, Ralph Peterson Jr., Anthony Branker, and Jared Gold. His seven solo CDs (Movin' On, A Morning View, Soul Proprietor, Keep the Change, Five, Dedicated, Due Reverence, and Power Play) feature a wide variety of top shelf musicians including trumpeters John Swana and Ryan Kisor; pianists Jim Beard and Orrin Evans; Organist Sam Yahel; guitarists Peter Bernstien, Jon Herington, and Adam Rogers; bassists John Patitucci, Anthony Jackson, Charles Fambrough, Reuben Rogers, and Kenny Davis; and drummers Ben Perowski, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Antonio Sanchez, Gregory Hutchinson, Donald Edwards, and Dana Hall.

Seamus Blake

Born: December 8, 1970

New York based tenor saxophonist/composer Seamus Blakeis recognized as one of the finest and most creative youngplayers in jazz.

John Scofield , who hired him for his “Quiet Band,”calls him “extraordinary, a total saxophonist.” In February2002, he took first place in the Thelonious Monk InternationalJazz Saxophone Competition in Washington D.C. As thewinner, he performed with Wayne Shorter and HerbieHancock.

Seamus Blake was born in England and raised in Vancouver,Canada. At age 21, while still a student at Boston'sprestigious Berklee College, he was asked to record withlegendary drummer Victor Lewis. After graduation, he movedto New York, where he rapidly established himself on the NewYork jazz scene.