Earl Bostic

Eugene Earl Bostic ( April 25, 1913 in Tulsa , Oklahoma – October 28, 1965 in Rochester , New York State ) was an American alto saxophonist , arranger and composer in jazz and later in rhythm and blues and dance music .

Bostic was best known for his distinctive alto saxophone sound. He also played tenor saxophone, flute and clarinet. The romantic but also gripping sound of the Bostic band, usually featuring Gene Redd , vibraphone ; Fletcher Smith , piano; Margo Gibson , bass; Charles Walton , drums and Alan Seltzer , guitar and Earl Bostic on alto saxophone was one of the distinctive sounds of both jazz and rhythm and blues. In the 1950s, his recordings were "perennials" in the music boxes .

In Germany the recordings were released by King Records on Odeon

Bostic received an elementary musical education and received an honors degree in music theory from Xavier University ( New Orleans , Louisiana). He moved to New York City in 1938 and formed a jazz combo. In the early 1940s he played in Lionel Hampton 's band . In 1945 he left Hampton, founded another combo with which he made some recordings for the record label Majestic . However, the great success did not materialize until he signed a contract with the Gotham label in New York in 1948 and turned to rhythm and blues. He had immediate success with the song Temptation (US R&B charts #10).

Throughout the 1950s, Bostic recorded extensively for Cincinnati's King Records , where he released two very successful singles: Sleep (#6 in US R&B) and his biggest hit , Flamingo (#1 in US R&B) in 1951. The interpretation of the latter became his trademark. In the 1960s he recorded a number of albums for King Records , whose musical style increasingly tended toward soul-jazz .

On October 28, 1965 he died of a massive heart attack while performing in Rochester, NY.

web links

• Earl Bostic biography, discography and audio samples at artistdirect.com (Accessed June 4, 2010)
• Earl Bostic at the Internet Movie Database
• Earl Bostic at Discogs