Results for "Saxophone"

Trevor Watts

Born: February 26, 1939

Born in York, England; composer/arranger/alto & sop saxes/piano/percussion. Trevor Watts' family moved to Halifax in Yorkshire when he was 6 months old, and that is where he was brought up. Trevor is a completely self taught musician, and his early inspirations came from his fathers love of Jazz, and the large collection of 78's that his father brought back after living in Canada and visiting the States on many occasions in the 1920's. Trevor had to do his National Service in the RAF, and joined the RAF band in 1959. It was there he met John Stevens and Paul Rutherford amongst others and formed the musical association that was to become the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Amalgam in the early 60's

Benny Waters

Born: January 23, 1902

Longevity, versatility and virtuosity are words that inevitably come to mind when describing Benny Waters, whose career as a clarinetist, saxophonist, vocalist, composer and arranger encompassed eight decades, and his playing reflected elements from the entire history of jazz. Benny Waters grew up in Brighton, Maryland, the youngest of seven children. After discovering the aforementioned organ and learning how to play, Benny's mother, who was terminally ill, was so moved by his natural ability that she devoted her remaining energy to getting him a formal education in music. Waters attended the New England Conservatory of Music, where he gained invaluable training in harmony and composition

Grover Washington, Jr.

Born: December 12, 1943

Saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. was a crossover artist who did have hits in the pop and R&B charts, due to his willingness to play over light funk arrangements and use vocalists. He can be credited with virtually inventing the style of smooth jazz that later became so prevalent, and in that way he has been highly influential. Grover Washington, Jr.'s love of music began a a child growing up in Buffalo, New York; his mother (who sang in church choirs) and father (collector of jazz 78s) bought him a saxophone at age ten. "After I started playing," Grover says, “I'd sneak into clubs to watch guys like Jack McDuff, Harold Vick and Charles Lloyd

Ken Vandermark

Born: September 22, 1964

For the past 20 years, Ken Vandermark has been exploring and working to expand the possibilities of improvised and composed music in North America and Europe. Since moving to Chicago from Boston in 1989, he's performed and recorded in a variety of contexts, and with many internationally renowned musicians. Past groups of significance include the NRG Ensemble, the DKV Trio, AALY, FME, the Vandermark Quartet, Spaceways Inc., School Days, Cinghiale, Witches & Devils, Steam, and Caffeine. Currently, the majority of his work as a composer and improviser has been directed toward the Vandermark 5, Powerhouse Sound, the Frame Quartet, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Sonore, and separate duos with the percussionists Tim Daisy and Paal Nilssen-Love, the Territory Band, CINC, and Free Fall

Earl Turbinton

Earl Turbinton - alto, soprano saxophone, educator Earl Turbinton, the adventurous saxophonist who helped pioneer the modern jazz scene in New Orleans, followed an idiosyncratic path in music. A jazz master, he could take an audience along on his musical journey, altering consciousness at will with playing that was both spiritual and passionate. Earl Turbinton grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School. Turbinton's musical training was with bandleader and educator, Clyde Kerr, Sr., who had an enormous influence on the New Orleans music scene. He continued his musical education and studied jazz with clarinetist Alvin Batiste at Southern University. As with many New Orleans musicians who were jazz players at heart, Turbinton often made his living playing R&B, blues, and funk gigs

Gianluigi Trovesi

Gianluigi Trovesi has accomplished that most difficult of feats, not only for a jazzman, or a musician even, but for any artist. He managed to create a musical world that is instantly recognizable and completely original at the same time. Drawing upon an unlikely and personal combination of sources, and having undergone a growth process in which the usual steps in the development of a musical career were reversed, Trovesi bloomed relatively late as an artist. Yet today his voice as a composer and improviser ranks among those who created the notion of a "European Jazz" inspired by the American tradition, but not an imitation of it

Frankie Trumbauer

Born: May 30, 1901

After serving in the US Navy during World War I, Frankie Trumbauer became a professional musician, working first in local bands before moving to Chicago to play and record with the Benson Orchestra and Ray Miller. In 1925-6, he led a band in St. Louis with Bix Beiderbecke, who became his close associate. The two men later worked together orchestras led by Jean Goldkette (1926), Adrian Rollini (1927), and Paul Whiteman (from 1927). By this time Trumbauer's originality was easily discernible, and in 1927 he gained his own recording contract with Okeh, leading to the creation of some of the most important recordings of the era by white jazz musicians

Jean Toussaint

Born: July 27, 1957

Since Jean Toussaint left Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the mid eighties, He hasn’t looked back. Nor has he spent a career trying to repeat the past. The experiences gained in that world-class hothouse have enabled him to push forward and embrace challenging, and often high profile, musical collaborations in many different jazz styles. Today he works out of London England as a composer, tenor/soprano saxophonist, bandleader and highly regarded jazz educator.

Born in the Caribbean, Jean Toussaint grew up in St Thomas USVI and started playing the saxophone at the Charlotte Amalie High School under the musical tutelage of Charles Cox, who took a special interest in the talented youngster, offering guidance and extra tuition. After high school, Toussaint attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston along with future jazz stars Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, Kevin Eubanks, Jeff Watts, Victor Bailey, Cindy Blackman, Donald Harrison and many others. While at Berklee, Toussaint studied with and was mentored by the great saxophonist/educator Billy Pierce. It was Pierce who recommended Toussaint to replace him in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

Lucky Thompson

Born: June 16, 1924

A legendary tenor and soprano saxophonist who took his place among the elite improvisers of jazz from the 1940's to the 1960's and then quit music. Lucky Thompson connected the swing era to the more cerebral and complex bebop style. His sophisticated, harmonically abstract approach to the tenor saxophone endeared him to the beboppers, but he was also a beautiful balladeer. Thompson was born in Columbia, South Carolina, but grew up on Detroit's East Side. He saved to buy a saxophone study book, practicing on a simulated instrument carved from a broomstick. He finally acquired a saxophone when he was 15, practiced eight hours a day and, within a month, was playing around town, most notably with the King's Aces big band, among who was vibraphonist Milt Jackson, later a frequent associate

Herman Riley

Born: August 31, 1933

Herman Riley, Jr. was born in New Orleans, and began to study music while still in grammar school. He majored in music in high school, and went on to Southern University to further his education. His primary instrument was the tenor sax, but Herman became proficient on many more, including the oboe and English horn. While in college, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After his discharge he continued on with his musical career, moving to Los Angeles in 1964. He became a much sought-after studio musician, and played on many TV shows and movie soundtracks during his long career. Herman toured Japan with Quincy Jones and played many festivals all over the globe, including the Monterey, Idyllwild, Concord, and New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festivals here at home