Buddy Tate

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Buddy Tate with pianist Bubba Kolb in the Village Jazz Lounge at Walt Disney World

George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (* 22. February 1915 in Blue Creek Community in Sherman ( Texas ); † 10. February 2001 in Chandler (Arizona) ) was an American jazz - tenor saxophonist and clarinetist of Swing . He played with Count Basie , Roy Eldridge and Buck Clayton .

Live and act

Buddy Tate began his career after local appearances as an alto saxophonist with Troy Floyd and Terrence Holder , worked for Andy Kirk in 1933/34 and briefly with Basie in Kansas City. In 1939 he became a permanent member of Count Basies Band and remained in its orchestra until 1949. Basie took him in after the sudden death of Herschel Evans . After his time at Basie, he worked in various formations, such as Lucky Millinder , Hot Lips Page and Jimmy Rushing , until he made his own bands in Harlem in 1950 . During this time he also worked on recordings by Coleman Hawkins , Eddie Lockjaw Davis , Buck Clayton , Vic Dickenson and Roy Eldridge and visited Europe several times, in 1959 with Buck Clayton and in 1962 and 1969 with his own band, to which u. a. Skip Hall belonged. With his own big band he performed at the Newport Jazz Festival and played in the Savoy Ballroom and finally regularly in the Celebrity Club (until 1974). He ran a band with Paul Quinichette in the 1970s and worked with Benny Goodman in the late 1970s . Almost every year in the 1980s he made guest appearances at festivals in Europe, for example with Torsten Zwingenberger , with whom he recorded an album in 1985, and with Basie alumni formations. During this time he also played with Scott Hamilton ( Tour de Force , Tokyo 1981) and Budd Johnson (Kool Festival 1984).

In 1981 he fell seriously ill, had to reduce his activities and finally retired from the jazz scene in the 1990s, but occasionally played with Lionel Hampton and other musicians. In 1992 he was involved in the documentary Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story . Tate lived in New York until shortly before his death in 2001, then moved to Arizona to take care of his daughter. He died shortly afterwards at the age of 87.

Tate's powerful style of play represents the powerful school of Coleman Hawkins (as opposed to Lester Young ) and shows influences from the game of Herschel Evans. He is regarded as a typical Texas - tenor with strong blues roots, melodic directness and large, warm tone. His solos on “ Rock-A-Bye Basie ” (1939) and “ Super Chief ” (1940) are jazz history.

Selection discography

  • 1970 - Unbroken ( MPS ) with George Reed
  • 1972 - Broadway (Black & Blue)
  • 1974 - Swinging Scorpio (Black Lion)
  • 1975 - Jive At Five (Storyville)
  • 1981 - The Ballad Artistry of Buddy Tate (Sackville)
  • 1984 - Buddy Tate, Al Gray : Just Jazz ( Uptown )

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The year of birth is also given as 1912 or 1913
  2. ↑ cit. according to Kunzler, p. 1148
personal data
SURNAME Tate, buddy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tate, George Holmes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz tenor saxophonist and swing clarinetist
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Sherman (Texas)
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 2001
Place of death Chandler (Arizona)