“My father was a jazz tenor sax player. He played in a lot of big bands. So I had that sound around me all the time. The first record that really caught my ear was Clifford Brown's 'Brownie Eyes.' I grew up listening to John Coltrane and Illinois Jacquet. This is where I come from... I love improvisational music.” FirstsBigsEyeFatherSoundRecordsPlayerListeningGrewBandGrew UpEarsJazzCaughtBrownIllinoisTenorsColtraneBrownies Author:Meshell Ndegeocello
“I was 16 when I came to New York. I had graduated to a tenor banjo in the school jazz band, and it was kind of boring - just chords, chords, chords. Then my father took me to a mountain music and dance festival in Asheville, North Carolina, and there I saw relatively uneducated people playing great music by ear.” PeopleKindSchoolFatherSawsNew YorkBandMountainEarsJazzBoringFestivalsChordsGreat MusicCarolinaUneducatedNorth CarolinaTenorsMusic And DanceBanjosJazz BandAsheville Author:Pete Seeger
“I have learned as much about writing about my people by listening to blues and jazz and spirituals as I have from reading novels. The understatements in the tenor saxophone of Lester Young, the crystal, haunting, forever searching sounds of John Coltrane, and the softness and violence of Count Basie's big band - all have fired my imagination as much as anything in literature.” PeopleWritingBigsYoungReadingLiteratureSoundImaginationNovelForeverViolenceListeningBandJazzI Have LearnedMy ImaginationHauntingCrystalsSoftnessSaxophoneTenorsUnderstatementColtraneReading NovelsLester Young Author:Ernest Gaines
“My grammar school graduating class in 1941 had a little party for 13 or 14 year-old kids. [Trumpeter] King Kolax's band played for the party and Gene Ammons was playing tenor saxophone with the band. And that's when I said, "That's it!" Just like that, tunnelvision ever since.” YearsLittlesSaidKidsSchoolPartyClassKingsBandGraduatesGenesGrammarSaxophoneTenorsGrammar SchoolGraduating Class Author:Johnny Griffin
“I spent five years, at least, working with Miles. Together, we recorded ESP, Nefertiti, Sorcerer -- and I can tell you; each of these albums instantly became jazz classics. Hey, we had Wayne Shorter playing tenor sax, Ron [Carter] on bass, Tony Williams played drums. That was great band we had.” YearsI CanTogetherFiveBandJazzAlbumsMilesHeyFive YearsBassCarterWayneTenorsEspNefertiti Author:Herbie Hancock
“I would sit in at a jazz brunch [at sweet Basil] with Eddie Chamblee, who was a great tenor player. Really a kind man. The whole band was great.” MenKindWholePlayerSweetBandJazzTenorsBrunchBasilKind Man Author:Jon Gordon
“A tenor player named Bud Revels there at the time. A lot of really nice associations amongst the students. Garry Dial was a returning student. He actually got me on Red Rodney's band subbing a little bit. I gigged some with Red when I was 21 in 1988. So I had a lot of nice associations that came from [ Laguardia School of Arts]. But a lot of my education was going on in the clubs. Hearing music and sitting in.” LittlesArtSchoolBitsNicePlayerStudentsBandLittle BitSittingRedClubsHearingAssociationBudReally NiceTenorsHearing Music Author:Jon Gordon