Bud Shank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bud Shank | |
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 Bud Shank in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Born | May 27, 1926 |
| Origin | Dayton, Ohio, United States |
| Genre(s) | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | alto saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1950s - |
| Associated acts | Laurindo Almeida, Bill Perkins, Bob Cooper, Ravi Shankar, Bill Mays |
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank, Jr. (born May 27, 1926 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He played flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra, in The Zodiac, on various recording sessions, and occasionally in live performances (as with The L.A. Four) until he gave it up later in his career to focus exclusively on the alto saxophone. He also recorded one album playing only tenor saxophone.
Bud Shank began with clarinet in Vandalia, Ohio, but had switched to saxophone before attending the University of North Carolina. While at UNC, Bud was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. In 1946 he worked with Charlie Barnet before moving on to Kenton and the West coast jazz scene. He also had a strong interest in what might now be termed world music, playing bossa nova in the early 1950s (years before it became a craze), and in 1962 fusing jazz with Indian traditions in collaboration with Indian composer and sitar-player Ravi Shankar.[1]
In the first decades of his career Shank played the flute as a second instrument, but during the 1980s dropped it and became purely an alto saxophonist. In 2005 he formed the Bud Shank Big Band in Los Angeles to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Stan Kenton's Neophonic Orchestra.
[edit] Selected recordings
- Laurindo Almeida with Bud Shank Brazilliance, Volumes 1 and 2 (1953) early bossa nova
- Bud Shank with Shorty Rogers (1954) - Pacific Jazz
- Bud Shank and Bill Perkins (1955-58) - Pacific Jazz
The above two are now released on a single CD.
- Cool Fool (1954 and 1955) joined by Maynard Ferguson and Bob Brookmeyer
- Chet Baker and Bud Shank Theme Music from The James Dean Story (1957) West Coast bebop
- Bud Shank and Ravi Shankar Improvisations (1962)
- Bud Shank, Bill Mays, Alan Broadbent Crystal Comments (1979) flute and two pianos
- Drifting Timelessly (1990) with the Roumanis String Quartet
- A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing (1992) with Bob Cooper and the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra
- By Request: Bud Shank Meets the Rhythm Section (1997)- Muse Records quartet led by Shank on alto
- The Bud Shank Big Band Taking the Long Way Home (2006) his first album as a big band leader, with arrangements by Bob Florence and other. Shank's alto is the featured instrument.
- Bud Shank and Bill Mays Beyond the Red Door (2007) Shank playing alto saxophone in duet with pianist Mays.
Shank also played the alto flute solo in The Mamas and the Papas's "California Dreamin'", the first and second halves being recorded as two separate takes.
