Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves ( born July 12, 1920 in Brockton, Massachusetts, † May 14, 1974 in London, United Kingdom ) was a tenor saxophonist of the swing.
Life and work
Gonsalves grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Iceland, and learned how his two brothers at his father's guitar. He played international folklore, before switching to tenor saxophone at age 16. After graduating high school he studied from 1938 at the Rhode Iceland School of Design and also received private lessons on the clarinet. His first engagements as a professional musician had Gonsalves at Henry McCoy in Providence, Phil Edmonds in New Bedford and after three years of military service in 1945 with Sabby Lewis in Boston. As the successor of Illinois Jacquet, he played in the orchestra of Count Basie (1946-1949), and then to work with Dizzy Gillespie (1949 /50). After the dissolution of the big band he joined the orchestra of Duke Ellington, where he became the successor of Ben Webster immediately to one of the stars of the orchestra in the same year. He had a influenced by Coleman Hawkins personal style, a successful synthesis of swing and bebop. Ellington said of him: " Paul had a thorough musical education, his solos are great and on his game can not be shaken. " In 1953 he was briefly a member of the orchestra of Tommy Dorsey, but then went back to Ellington, where he remained until remained to his death.
Was abandoned at a time when interest in the bigger swing orchestras disappeared and Ellington from different longtime musical collaborators, Paul Gonsalves was instrumental in the successful comeback of the Duke Ellington Orchestra:
The Duke Ellington Orchestra took on 7 July 1956 at the Newport Jazz Festival in part. As already once in 1951 at the legendary jazz club Birdland joined Ellington 's compositions originally separate diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue from 1937 to diminuendo and crescendo in blue and allowed Gonsalves a tenor sax solo at the end of the diminuendo part. The subsequent release of the live - Mitschnittes this over 27 choruses of a blues scheme extending solos brought the orchestra 's long -awaited comeback. Gonsalves is also at the forefront in the sessions that have arisen in the same year in Chicago ( The Private Collection Volume Displaying 1 - Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956).
In addition, a number of albums under his own name emerged in which he, inter alia, played with Nat Adderley, Roy Eldridge, Rolf Ericson, Raymond Fol, Tootie Heath, Earl Hines, Johnny Hodges, Jo Jones, Wynton Kelly, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Ray Nance. His 24 -year-old member of the Ellington band was interrupted by occasional absences were due to his alcoholism and drug abuse. When he was in London, he suffered a health breakdown. Paul Gonsalves died on 14 May 1974 of heart failure, only 10 days before his longtime friend and bandleader Ellington, who was too ill to take the message. Gonsalves, Ellington and Tyree Glenn were exposed for the same time at the same New York undertaker.
Importance
Paul Gonsalves had a large, however slight, silky, warm tone that is (as in Ellington's Far East Suite ) was especially in his rhapsodic interpretations of ballads to bear. Ellington praised him " highly experienced and of immense imagination " as. Technically have Gonsalves can play everything he could think of.
Influenced by Gonsalves David Murray wrote a tribute to him ( on his album David Murray Big Band Conducted by Lawrence " Butch" Morris).