Nick Brignola
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Nick Brignola(b. July 17, 1936; d. February 8, 2002) was a baritone saxophonist who also played alto or soprano at times. He is largely associated with hard bop.
He began in music by playing clarinet at age eleven, but then added alto and tenor saxophone. He also learned flute in youth. He did not use baritone saxophone until he was twenty and needed a "loaner instrument." The jazz magazine Down Beat praised the college band he worked in when attending Ithaca and this gained him his initial notability. He was also a member of Woody Herman's orchestra for a time, worked with Thelonius Monk, and had his first album as a collaboration with Glen Moore. Although he did notable work for others he spent most of his career as a leader of his own small groups. He often topped the Down Beat polls in the baritone saxophone category. Many of his best-regarded albums were recorded in the 1990s when his health had begun to decline due to cancer.
