Home » Jazz News » Obituary

319

Bud Shank: California Dreamin'

Source:

Sign in to view read count
The great jazz musician Bud Shank has died at the age of 82. He had one of the most unlikely backgrounds for any jazz musician, growing up not in the urban welter of cultural ferment or in the musically rich backwaters of the South -- but on a farm in Ohio.

He may not have been the greatest jazz musician to emerge from rural America -- Dave Brubeck grew up as a cowboy in California, after all -- but Shank proved that cultural origins matter little when someone is talented, determined and eager to learn.

Shank was a jazz saxophonist of the first rank who helped define the much-maligned “cool jazz" of the West Coast in the 1950s. (Here's a great example of his style at the time, 1954's brilliant “Cool Fool.") But Shank was hardly “cool" and laidback -- or at least not always -- in his approach to music. If you don't believe me, check out this opening scene from the 1958 cult classic movie “I Want to Live!," starring Susan Hayward as a wicked woman. Shank is the alto saxophone player who is seen mostly nodding his head as Gerry Mulligan and Art Farmer play some incredibly swinging music.

He discovered Brazilian music a decade before it was popularized in this country by Stan Getz and D.C.'s own Charlie Byrd and can be heard on this ultra-cool recording from 1963 with pianist Clare Fischer.


Photo Credit
Gordon Sapsed

Continue Reading...

Visit Website

For more information contact .

Comments

Tags

News

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.