John Handy

This article introduces the musician of modern jazz. For the jazz saxophonist of the same name, see Captain John Handy .

John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933 in Dallas , Texas ) is an American jazz musician (woodwind, pianist, composer, jazz teacher).

Handy began playing the alto saxophone in 1949 and studied music theory in college. He played u. a. with Gerald Wilson , Teddy Edwards, and Frank Morgan ; he recorded his first record in 1953 with Lowell Pulson. In 1958 he moved to New York City , where he worked for Charles Mingus between 1958 and 1959 . In 1959 he founded his first group, with which he toured Europe in 1961. He then worked as a soloist in Sweden and Denmark. In 1963 he worked on the west coast as a soloist in the field of classical music (Santa Clara Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco State College Band). In 1964 he played with Mingus at the Monterey Jazz Festival , where he celebrated a remarkable success with his quintet the next year. The recording of this concert (with Michael White , Jerry Hahn , Don Thompson and Terry Clarke ) resulted in Grammy nominations for both compositions ( Spanish Lady , If Only We Knew ). Between 1966 and 1967 he toured the United States with the Monterey All Stars and played in Gunther Schuller's opera The Visitation . In 1968 he founded a new quartet with Mike Nock , White and Ron McClure .

After graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in music , Handy has worked as a music teacher since 1968 and has taught at Stanford University , the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University, among others . His Concerto For Jazz Solist and Orchestra (1970) was performed with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra . Then he landed a pop hit in 1976 with Hard Work , recorded fusion music with Lee Ritenour , and studied Indian music intensively . First he appeared with the sarod player Ali Akbar Khan in the Rainbow group (records Karuna Supreme (1975), with Zakir Hussain and Rainbow (1980), with L. Subramaniam , among others ), and since the mid-1980s with the Music Ensemble of Benares and Bebop & Beyond .

He also toured with the Mingus Dynasty in the mid-1980s . His son is the saxophonist Craig Handy .

On August 28, 1999, the city of Los Angeles celebrated its fellow citizens with a "John Cell Phone Day".

Web links

• Website with discography (English)