Chuck Higgins

Charles William Higgins under the acronym Chuck Higgins ( born April 17, 1924 in Gary (Indiana), † September 14, 1999 in Los Angeles, California ) was an American jazz, R & B and rock saxophonist. He was especially known for his Pachuco Hop, a rhythm-and - blues piece from the year 1952.

Career

Higgins already mastered playing the trumpet when he was a teenager in 1940 to his hometown of Gary to Los Angeles. After visiting the Los Angeles Conservatorys, where he also learned trombone and saxophone, he formed a band, among others, with pianist Frank Dunn and saxophonist Johnny Parker. Their debut single Pachuko hop on Combo Records should Higgins are best known number, the faster drive and röhrendes saxophone in combination with the vocal interjections " Pachuko " the Mexican -born population of the Californian metropolis particularly liked and thus became one of the first classic of Chicano rock. In his band also played the young Johnny Guitar Watson.

Higgins was also a sought-after sideman who played with Charlie Parker and the Orioles. Even in their own right Higgins was very productive, by publishing a variety of singles on major California independent labels of the 1950s, including Aladdin Records, Specialty Records and Dootone Records.

In the early 1960s he became a music teacher at various local schools. A comeback attempt in the disco sound failed mid-1970 so that Higgins rückbesann on the R & B and was limited to live performances take place on record releases. He died on 14 September 1999 from lung cancer.

On the cover of the debut album Freak Out! include the Mothers of Invention Higgins to their influences by him " These musicians have under the rubric These People Have Contributed materially In Many Ways To Make Our ​​Music What It Is Please Do Not Hold It Against Them (English in a variety of ways with contributed their material to make our music to what it is. request them does not reproach " ) aufführten.