Earl bostic wiki

American jazz saxophonist

Earl Bostic
Birth name	Eugene Earl Bostic
Born	()April 25, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Died	October 28, () (aged&#;52) Rochester, New York, Merged States
Genres
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Alto saxophone
Years active	–

Musical artist

Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, – October 28, )^[1] was an American alto saxophonist.

Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which he pioneered. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep", "Special Delivery Stomp", and "Where or When", which all showed off his characteristic growl on the horn.

He was a major influence on John Coltrane.^[2]

Career

Bostic was born in in Tulsa, Oklahoma.^[1] In his youth, he played the clarinet in college and saxophone with the local Boy Scouts troop.^[3] He turned professional at the age of 18 when he joined Terence Holder's "Twelve Clouds of Joy".

Home » Jazz Musicians » Earl Bostic. Bostic's distinctive approach, strong on the sax and heavy on the beat, was quite successful in the rhythm and blues market in the s. One of the rare jazz musicians of his generation with formal training, Bostic studied composition at Xavier University in New Orleans in the in advance s, and then spent several years performing with territory bands in the Midwest as good as with Fate Marable, who led one of the last Mississippi riverboat bands. After a couple of years with Hampton, during which he became more and more active as an arranger, Bostic left to perform as a free-lancer, writing for bands such as Jack Teagarden's and Louis Prima, and taking occasional playing jobs.

Bostic made his first recording with Lionel Hampton in October ,^[4] with Charlie Christian, Clyde Hart and Big Sid Catlett. Before that, he performed with Fate Marable on New Orleansriverboats. Bostic graduated from Xavier University in Unused Orleans.^[4] He worked with area bands as well as Arnett Cobb, Hot Lips Page, Rex Stewart, Don Byas, Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk, Edgar Hayes, Cab Calloway, and other jazz luminaries.

In , and in , Bostic led the house band at Smalls Paradise.^[5] While playing at Small's Paradise, he doubled on guitar and trumpet. During the early s, he was a well-respected regular at the famous jam sessions held at Minton's Playhouse.

He formed his own band in and made the first recordings under his own name for the Majestic label.^[4] He turned to rhythm and blues in the belated s. His biggest hits were "Temptation", "Sleep", "Flamingo",^[4] "You Move to My Head" and "Cherokee".

Earl Bostic 25 April — 28 October was an American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. Over the course of his career he worked as a recording artist, bandleader and arranger. Bostic made his first recordings with Lionel Hampton before forming his own team in Throughout the s he released many rhythm and blues style records on the King label.

At various times, his band included Keter Betts, Jaki Byard, Benny Carter, John Coltrane, Teddy Edwards, Benny Golson, Sky Mitchell, Tony Scott, Cliff Smalls, Charles Thompson, Stanley Turrentine, Tommy Turrentine, and other musicians who rose to prominence, especially in jazz.

Bostic's King album entitled Jazz As I Feel It ()^[4] featured Shelly Manne on drums, Joe Pass on guitar and Richard "Groove" Holmes on organ. Bostic recorded A Fresh Sound about one month later, again featuring Holmes and Overtake.

These recordings allowed Bostic to stretch out beyond the three-minute limit imposed by the 45 RPM format. Bostic was pleased with the sessions, which showcase his total mastery of the blues, but they also foreshadowed musical advances that were later evident in the work of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.

He wrote arrangements for Paul Whiteman, Louis Prima, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, Blazing Lips Page, Jack Teagarden, Ina Ray Hutton, and Alvino Rey.

His songwriting hits include "Let Me Off Uptown", performed by Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge, and "Brooklyn Boogie", which featured Louis Prima and members of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Bostic's signature hit, "Flamingo" was recorded in and remains a favorite among followers of Carolina Beach Harmony in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

In , Bostic and his Orchestra performed for the famed ninth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr.

on June 7. Also featured that day were Roy Brown and his Orchestra, Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen, Shorty Rogers, Nat "King" Cole with Velma Middleton, and Louis Armstrong and his All Stars.^[6]

During the early s, Bostic lived with his wife in Addisleigh Park in St.

Albans, Queens, in New York City, where many other jazz stars made their home.^[7] After that, he moved to Los Angeles, where he concentrated on writing arrangements after suffering a heart invade. He opened his own R&B club in Los Angeles, acknowledged as the Flying Fox.

Death

Bostic died on October 28, , from a heart attack in Rochester, New York, while demonstrating with his band. He was buried in Southern California's Inglewood Park Cemetery on November 2, Honorary pallbearers at the funeral included Slappy White and Louis Prima.

Today he rests under a simple black slate dignified marker inscribed with his identify, birth/death dates, and a solo saxophone, located not far from such other musical luminaries as Chet Baker, Ray Charles, and Ella Fitzgerald, who was born exactly four years after Earl.

Bostic was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in

Style and influence

Bostic was influenced by Sidney Bechet and (according to James Moody) John Coltrane was in turn influenced by Bostic.

Coltrane told Down Beat magazine in that Bostic "showed me a lot of things on my horn. He has fabulous technical facilities on his instrument and knows many a trick." Moody mentioned that "Bostic knew his instrument inside out, back to front and upside down." If one listens carefully to Bostic's fabulous halt time choruses and his extended solo work, the roots of Coltrane's "sheets of sound" change into clear.

Bostic's early jazz solos bear similarity to Benny Carter's long flowing lines.

Earl Bostic – Wikipedia: Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, – October 28, ) [1] was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which he pioneered.

Other influences on Bostic include European concert music, bebop and the sounds associated with his Oklahoma roots. Bostic admitted that he was interested in selling records and he went as far as to inscribe out his popular solos record for note in order to please his admiring fans during concerts.

Nonetheless, Bostic was always ready to improvise brilliantly during his live performances.

Bostic's virtuosity on the saxophone was mythical, and is evident on records such as "Up There in Orbit", "Earl's Imagination", "Apollo Theater Jump", "All On", "Artistry by Bostic", "Telestar Drive", "Liza", "Lady Be Good" and "Tiger Rag".

He was famous as a peerless jammer who held his own against Charlie Parker. The alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson recalled seeing Parker get burned by Bostic during one such jam session at Minton's. Donaldson said that Bostic "was the greatest saxophone player I ever knew.

Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, – October 28, ) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues manner, which he pioneered.

Bostic was down at Minton's and Charlie Parker came in there. They played 'Sweet Georgia Brown' or something and he gave Charlie Parker a saxophone lesson. Now you'd see him, we'd sprint up there and think that we're going to blow him out, and he'd make you look like a fool.

Generate he'd play three octaves, louder, stronger and faster."^[8]Art Blakey remarked that "Nobody knew more about the saxophone than Bostic, I mean technically, and that includes Bird. Working with Bostic was like attending a university of the saxophone.

When Coltrane played with Bostic, I know he learned a lot."^[2] Victor Schonfield pointed out that "his greatest gift was the way he communicated through his horn a triumphant joy in playing and being, much like Louis Armstrong and only a few others have done."^[9] He was proficient to control the horn from low A without using his knee^[10] up into the altissimo range years before other saxophonists dared to stray.

Bostic played melodies in the altissimo range with perfect execution.

Earl Bostic April 25, — October 28, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and a pioneer of the post-war American rhythm and blues style. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep", "Special Delivery Stomp" and "Where or When", which all showed off his characteristic growl on the horn. He was a major influence on John Coltrane. Eugene Earl Bostic was born in in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He could play wonderfully in any key at any tempo over any changes. Benny Golson, who called Bostic "the top technician I ever heard in my life," mentioned that "He could start from the bottom of the horn and skip over notes, voicing it up the horn like a guitar would.

He had circular breathing before I even knew what circular breathing was – we're talking about the early 50s. He had innumerable ways of playing one particular note. He could double tongue, triple tongue. It was incredible what he could do, and he helped me by showing me many technical things." Bostic used a Beechler mouthpiece with a tenor saxophone reed on his Martin Committee model alto sax.

Bostic was a master of the blues and he used this skill in a variety of musical settings. Although he recorded many commercial albums, some notable jazz-based exceptions on the King label include Bostic Rocks Hits of the Swing Age, Jazz As I Feel It and A New Sound.

Compositions such as "The Major and the Minor" and "Earl's Imagination" demonstrate a solid knowledge of peace. In , Bostic successfully toured with Dinah Washington on the R&B circuit.^[11] Bostic was always well dressed and articulate during interviews.

His live performances provided an opportunity for a departure from his commercial efforts and those who witnessed these shows remember him driving audiences into a frenzy with dazzling technical displays. Always the consummate showman, he appeared on the Soupy Sales TV show and danced the "Soupy Shuffle" better than Soupy while playing the saxophone.^[12]

During the late s, Bostic changed his style in a flourishing attempt to reach a wider audience.

The new sound incorporated his unmistakable rasp or growl, shorter lines than in his jazz-based recordings, emphasis on a danceable back beat and a new way of wringing "the greatest possible rhythmic value from every note and phrase."^[9] Bostic showed off the new approach in his hit "Temptation", which reached the Top Ten of the R&B chart during the summer of The addition of Gene Redd on vibes in rounded out the Bostic sound and he used the vibes on his major hits such as "Flamingo" in The version of "Where or When" features Bostic growling through the mid-range of the instrument behind a heavy backbeat and loud bass and it is a marked departure from his approach to the same tune recorded on Gotham in which showed off his sweet "singing" in the upper register with barely audible percussion.

Bostic proved that saxophone instrumentals could climb the strike charts and other saxists with hits including Boots Randolph and Stanley Turrentine have acknowledged his influence.

In February , Bostic was voted No.&#;2 jazz alto sax in the Playboy jazz poll over leading saxists including Cannonball Adderley and Sonny Stitt.^[13] He recorded an inimitable version of "All The Things You Are" released on the Playboy label.

Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazzswingjump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues approach, which he pioneered. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo"" Harlem Nocturne ", " Temptation ", "Sleep", "Special Delivery Stomp", and " Where or When ", which all showed off his typical growl on the horn. He was a major influence on John Coltrane. Bostic was born in in TulsaOklahoma.

In August , he performed at the famous Playboy Jazz Festival in Chicago on the same bill as the major jazz stars of the time.

Bostic discussed his approach to improvising in an interview with Kurt Mohr. "Of course I am maybe one of the few musicians who like simple recurring melody patterns and in all my playing I try to retain a basic melody line in my mind and attempt to develop meaningful inversions and variationsI like the basic blues The blues has it all; basic rhythmic quality, genuine lyric content, essential and basic chord structure and maybe above all else, personality.

Blues and jazz are inseparable."^[14]

Bostic's recording career was diverse and it included small community swing-based jazz, big band jazz, jump blues, organ-based combos and a string of commercial successes.

Discography

Albums

Sources:^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

• Earl Bostic and His Alto Sax, Volume 1, King [10" LP] (); reissued as –76 with 2 extra tracks in
• Earl Bostic and His Alto Sax, Volume 2, King [10" LP] (); reissued as –77 with 2 extra tracks in
• Earl Bostic and His Alto Sax, Volume 3, King [10" LP] (); reissued as –78 with 2 extra tracks in
• Earl Bostic and His Alto Sax, Volume 4, King [10" LP] (); reissued as –79 with 2 extra tracks in
• Earl Bostic Plays The Antique Standards, King [10" LP] (); reissued as –, re-titled Earl Bostic and His Alto Sax, Volume 5
• (Dance to) The Leading of Bostic, King ()
• Earl Bostic for You, King ()
• Alto-Tude, King ()
• Dance Time, King ()
• Let's Gyrate with Earl Bostic, King ()
• Invitation to Dance with Bostic, King ()
• C'mon and Dance with Earl Bostic, King ()
• Bostic Rocks (Hits of the Swing Age), King ()
• Bostic Showcase of Swinging Gyrate Tunes, King ()
• Alto Magic in Hi-Fi (A Dance Party with Bostic), King ()
• Earl Bostic Plays Sweet Tunes of the Fantastic 50s, King ()
• Dance Music From the Bostic Workshop, King ()
• Earl Bostic Plays Sweet Tunes of the Roaring '20s, King ()
• Earl Bostic & His Big Band Play Sweet Tunes of the Swinging '30s, King ()
• Earl Bostic Plays Sweet Tunes of the Sentimental 40s, King ()
• Musical Pearls by Bostic, King ()
• Earl Bostic Plays the Hit Tunes of the Big Broadway Shows, King ()
• Earl Bostic by Popular Demand, King ()
• Earl Bostic Plays Bossa Nova, King ()
• Songs of the Fantastic 50s, Vol.

  2, King ()

• Jazz As I Feel It (featuring Richard "Groove" Holmes), King ()
• The Best of Earl Bostic, Volume 2, King ()
• A Modern Sound by Earl Bostic (featuring Richard "Groove" Holmes), King ()
• Earl Bostic Plays the Great Hits of , King ()
• Memorial to Earl Bostic: 24 Tunes That Earl Loved the Most!, King () [2LP]
• Harlem Nocturne, King ()
• 14 Original Greatest Hits, King/Gusto X ()
• 27 Saloon Songs, Diplomat DS [2LP]
• The Earl of Bostic, Grand Prix KS
• Wild, Man!, Grand Prix KS
• Sax "O" Boogie, Oldie Blues OL ()
• Blows a Fuse, Charly R&B CRB (); reissued on CD as Charly R&B CD-CHARLY () with 4 extra tracks

CD compilations

• Flamingo (Charly R&B Masters, Vol), Charly CDRB ()
• The Chronological Earl Bostic –, Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' ()
• The Chronological Earl Bostic –, Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' ()
• The Chronological Earl Bostic –, Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' ()
• The Chronological Earl Bostic –, Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' ()
• The Chronological Earl Bostic –, Classics 'Blues & Rhythm Series' ()
• Flamingo, Proper (PROPERPAIRS) PVCD () [2CD]
• Magic Bostic – (Jazz Archives No.

  ), EPM Musique ()

• The Very Best of Earl Bostic, Collectables COL ()
• Earl Bostic Plays Flamingo, ASV/Living Era CDAJA ()
• Earl Bostic Plays Jazz Standards, Definitive DRCD ()
• The Earl Bostic Story, Proper PROPERBOX () [4-CD box set]
• Let's Ball Tonight!, Rev-Ola CRREV ()
• The Earl Bostic Collection , Acrobat ADDCD () [2CD]
• Four Classic Albums, Avid AMSC () [2CD] — includes all of the tracks from the albums Dance Time, Let's Boogie With Earl Bostic, Alto Magic in Hi-Fi (A Dance Party with Bostic), and Dance Melody from the Bostic Workshop

References

External links