Harold Ashby

Harold Ashby ( born March 27, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, † 13 June 2003 in New York City ) was an American swing tenor saxophonist and clarinetist.

Life and work

Harold Ashby played during school hours clarinet, had in 1946 after serving two years in the navy his debut as a tenor saxophonist with Tommy Douglas. In Chicago he played with blues musicians such as Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon. After New York Ashby went in 1957 and initially worked for Mercer Ellington, 1961/62 and occasionally for Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and a short time at Lawrence Brown. Under his own name appeared in 1960, the album Born To Swing, with Paul Gonsalves Album Tenor Stuff 1961. According to some " freelance " years Harold Asbhy came in July 1968 finally the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and took with him the large suites in the early 1970s as New Orleans Suite. Even after his death, he played in the big band of Mercer Ellington, Ellington was with former colleagues a concert and traveled in the following years with Ellington alumni bands. He also worked on albums by Benny Goodman and Sy Oliver. In 1987, he appeared as guest soloist with the album The Art of the Saxophone by Bennie Wallace. Ashby's style resembles that of Ben Webster; contributed to that his brothers Herbert and Alex played at Webster.

Selected Discography

As a leader

  • Presenting Harold Ashby
  • Scufflin ' ( Black & Blue, 1978) with Booty Wood, Raymond Fol, Aaron Bell, Sam Woodyard
  • The Viking (Gemini, 1988) with Norman Simmons
  • What I Am Here For? ( Criss Cross, 1990) with Mulgrew Miller, Rufus Reid
  • I'm Old Fashioned ( Stash, 1991)
  • On The Sunny Side of the Street ( Timeless, 1992) Horace Parlan with, Wayne Dockery, Steve McCraven

As a sideman

  • Ben Webster: The Soul Of Ben Webster ( Verve 1957 /58)
  • Benny Golson: Tenor Legacy ( Arcadia, 1996)
  • Duke Ellington New Orleans Suite (Atlantic, 1970)
  • Duke Ellington: The Afro - Eurasian Eclipse - A Suite In 8 Parts ( OJC, 1971)
  • Duke Ellington: The Intimacy Of The Blues ( OJC, 1967-70 )
  • Scott Hamilton - Warren Vache Orchestra ( Concord, 1979)
  • Earl Hines: Once Upon A Time ( Impulse!, 1966)
  • Bennie Wallace: The Art Of The Saxophone ( Denon, 1987)

Literature / Sources

  • Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather & Brian Priestley: Rough Guide to Jazz. Metzler, 2nd edition, Stuttgart, 2004. ISBN 978-3-476-01892-2
  • Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6
  • Martin Kunzler: Jazz Encyclopedia. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1993
  • Bielefeld Catalog Jazz 2001
Kansas City (Missouri) June 13 Tommy Douglas (clarinetist) Lawrence Brown (musician) Scott Hamilton (musician) Richard Cook (journalist) Brian Morton (Scottish writer) Integrated Authority File
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