News & Updates — reeds

Lester Young / Aug 27, 1909 - March 15, 1959

Lester Young / Aug 27, 1909 - March 15, 1959

Happy birthday to the great and influential tenor saxophonist Lester Young, the President. The original jazz hipster, he was a key link between the swing and bop eras and was a modernist with an emotionally-driven and harmonically-gifted style. He grew up in New Orleans and played in the Young Family Band, touring the carnival circuit. In the '30s he went to Kansas City, becoming a major feature of Count Basie's band. During that decade he also played with Fletcher Henderson, Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday, King Oliver, Benny Moten and Andy Kirk and in the '40s cut some sessions with Nat...

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Fred Ho / Aug 10, 1957 - April 12, 2014

Fred Ho / Aug 10, 1957 - April 12, 2014

Happy birthday to the underrated saxophonist/composer/activist/author Fred Wei-han Houn aka Fred Ho. His ambitious operas, ballets and multi-art compositions brought a radical, questioning temperament and a cross-mingling of improvised music and folk art to his fiery and political works. With his many groups (Asian-American Art Ensemble, Green Monster Big Band, Saxophone Liberation Front, Afro Asian Music Ensemble) he created several brilliantly charged records on labels like Innova, Mutable, Asian Improv, Soul Note and others. His concepts were informed by not just radical politics and feminism but also dance, martial arts and literary influence. A Chinese-American who grew up in Western...

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Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Aug 7, 1935 - Dec 5, 1977

Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Aug 7, 1935 - Dec 5, 1977

One of my heroes, Rahsaan Roland Kirk brought a playful humor and inspired work ethic to some serious blues & bop chops. A man who could play THREE saxophones at the same time with a nose flute and bells around his ankles, but could really play a solo with the best. It is no secret that he was one of Jimi Hendrix's all time favorites: in fact as Jimi was blowing up big, he was found playing in Kirk's group one never-recorded weekend at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. (Hendrix said that Kirk told him to turn his volume UP). From...

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Byard Lancaster / Aug 6, 1942 - Aug 23, 2012

Byard Lancaster / Aug 6, 1942 - Aug 23, 2012

A happy birthday shoutout to free jazz reedsman Byard Lancaster, a dude who always had a funky side to him! He came out of Philly and spent some time in Boston before participating in the NYC free jazz revolution, playing often with drummer Sunny Murray. He worked with Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra and Bill Dixon in the '60s, as well as releasing his own 1968 classic It's Not Up To Us album (with Sonny Sharrock). The '70s found him releasing a string of what are now "rare groove classics" for the French label Palm and others (with Khan...

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Johnny Hodges / July 25, 1906 - May 11, 1970

Johnny Hodges / July 25, 1906 - May 11, 1970

Happy birthday to the great swing-jazz alto saxophonist John Cornelius Hodges!! A crucial member of Duke Ellington's band from 1928 until his death in 1970 (save for a few off-and-on years), Johnny Hodges was a Boston native. He also played with Sidney Bechet, Chick Webb, Billy Taylor and others, as well as a few records under his own leadership. Nicknamed "the Rabbit" and "Jeep", he played both soprano and alto and served as a mentor for many younger players coming through the orchestra. He supplied some seriously sultry sax that was just a perfect fit in the Ellington band. His...

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