(Originally recorded July 11, 2006)
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Saxophonist Bud Shank grew up on a farm outside of Dayton, Ohio. Though no one in his family was musical, Shank was drawn to the big band concerts he heard broadcast on radio from Chicago and New York. He was particularly drawn to the music of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman, so naturally, he chose to play the clarinet when he joined the local school band. In Dayton, Shank began taking clarinet lessons and eventually picked up the tenor sax.
Shank attended the University of North Carolina, where he expanded his woodwind chops and began focusing primarily on the alto sax and the flute. While in North Carolina, Shank got his first taste of life on the road as he toured the South with the Johnny Satterfield Big Band. After graduating in 1946, Shank moved to California, where he worked for several years with Charlie Barnett, followed by a brief stint with Stan Kenton.
During the 1950s, Shank was recognized as one of the leading sax players on the West Coast jazz scene, working with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars as well as fronting his own quartet. For the next few decades, Shank continued to perform and record, spending a great deal of his time as a leading studio musician on both alto and flute. Shank joined bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Laurindo Almeida, and Jeff Hamilton in the late '70s to form the L.A. Four. The all-star quartet toured throughout much of the next decade.
In later years, Shank has recorded and performed in all sorts of settings -- from featured soloist, to quartet and sextet leader, to in-demand clinician.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
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Set List for the Bud Shank Trio on Piano Jazz:Alone Together (Dietz, Schwartz)
Beautiful Love (Gillespie, King, Young, Van Alstyne)
Lover Man (Davis, Ramirez, Sherman)
Emily (Mandel, Mercer)
My Romance (Hart, Rodgers)
You Go to My Head (Coots, Gillespie)
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (Garrett, Wayne, Weisman)
Shank attended the University of North Carolina, where he expanded his woodwind chops and began focusing primarily on the alto sax and the flute. While in North Carolina, Shank got his first taste of life on the road as he toured the South with the Johnny Satterfield Big Band. After graduating in 1946, Shank moved to California, where he worked for several years with Charlie Barnett, followed by a brief stint with Stan Kenton.
During the 1950s, Shank was recognized as one of the leading sax players on the West Coast jazz scene, working with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars as well as fronting his own quartet. For the next few decades, Shank continued to perform and record, spending a great deal of his time as a leading studio musician on both alto and flute. Shank joined bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Laurindo Almeida, and Jeff Hamilton in the late '70s to form the L.A. Four. The all-star quartet toured throughout much of the next decade.
In later years, Shank has recorded and performed in all sorts of settings -- from featured soloist, to quartet and sextet leader, to in-demand clinician.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
Subscribe!
Set List for the Bud Shank Trio on Piano Jazz: