Lew Tabackin
Lew Tabackin (born March 26, 1940 in Philadelphia ) is an American jazz musician (tenor saxophonist , flautist and together with his wife Toshiko Akiyoshi big band leader).
Life
Tabackin already played tenor saxophone and flute in high school, studied flute and composition at the Conservatory in Philadelphia from 1958 (with Vincent Persichetti ), where he graduated in 1962. After an interlude in the US Army from 1962 to 1965, he played with the jazz guitarist Tal Farlow and with Don Friedman . He also played in big bands from Cab Calloway , Joe Henderson , Thad Jones / Mel Lewis , Maynard Ferguson and others. In the late 1960s he led a trio in Philadelphia and played in smaller groups with Elvin Jones , Donald Byrd , Attila Zoller and Roland Hanna . He also played in the "Tonight Show", a TV talk show with Dick Cavett , and was a soloist in Europe in 1968/69 with the Danish Radio Orchestra and at the NDR's Hamburg Jazz Workshop .
In 1969 he married the composer and pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi , with whom he played in a quartet since 1968, toured Japan in 1970/71 and began a long-term partnership in his own big bands after moving to Los Angeles in 1972 ("Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Bigband") until 1982. After moving to New York they formed the "Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra feat. Lew Tabackin"), in which he also played as one of the main soloists.
In Los Angeles he also played with Shelly Manne and in his own trios a. a. with Billy Higgins , John Heard and Charlie Haden , later with drummer Joey Baron and bassist Michael Moore . In 1974 he released his first album under his own name ("Lew Tabackin"). In the 1980s he lived in New York again, won several downbeat polls as a flautist and recorded a notable album with Phil Woods . In the 1990s, albums by his own bands appeared on the Concord label. Currently (2019) Tabackin leads a trio with bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Mark Taylor.
Discography (selection)
As a leader
- Desert Lady (Concord, 1989) with Hank Jones , Dave Holland , Victor Lewis
- I'll Be Seeing You (Concord, 1992) with Benny Green , Peter Washington , Lewis Nash
- What A Little Moonlight Can Do (Concord, 1994) dto.
- Pyramid (Koch, 1988–94) with the Nederlands Metropole Orkest under Rob Pronk
- Tenority (Concord, 1996) with Randy Brecker , Don Friedman
Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabakin Big Band
See the discography of the Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabakin Big Band
As a sideman
- Donald Byrd: Electric Byrd (Blue Note, 1970)
- George Gruntz: The MPS Years (MPS, 1971-80)
- Bennie Wallace : The Art of the Saxophone (Denon, 1987)
- Phil Woods / Lew Tabackin: Phil Woods / Lew Tabackin (Evidence, 1980)
swell
- Announcement - 70th birthday celebration
- Leonard Feather: liner notes on Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin: Insights (RCA, 1986)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ There he also plays Tárogató
- ↑ Leonard Feather reports in the liner notes to Insights that after 1972 Tabackin did a safe but boring job in LA as a sideman in the orchestra of the trumpeter Doc Severinsen. The band played five days a week on a TV show, but Tabackin's role was strictly secondary: it consisted mainly of providing musical accompaniment to various guests on the show. It wasn't until the summer of 1976 - with the recordings for Insights , he felt confident enough to leave the TV band. After that, his work was divided into engagement for the big band with Akiyoshi and freelance studio work around Hollywood; quoted after Leonard Feather, liner notes
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tobacco woman, Lew |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American big band leader, flutist and tenor saxophonist of jazz |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 26, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia |