Hal Stein (born Harold Jerome Stein on September 5, 1928 in Weehawken, N.J.) was an American jazz musician and Bebop saxophone player. He died of lung cancer on April 27, 2008 in his home in Oakland, CA, at the age of 79.
Stein began performing on the tenor saxophone in the early 1940s in New York City. As a teen he frequently sat in with Don Byas, who he considered a mentor, and Erroll Garner at The Three Deuces on 52nd Street. In 1945 he was featured in concert with pianist Teddy Wilson at Town Hall (while still a high school student) on the same bill with Byas, Stuff Smith, and Charlie Parker. During the same year, Stein recorded with Doc Pomus, Tab Smith and Leonard Feather.
Having studied at Juilliard during 1950–51, Stein went on to work with Gene Krupa, Buddy Morrow, Les Elgart, Artie Shaw, Charles Mingus, Rudy Williams, Roy Haynes, Georgie Auld, Claude Thornhill, J. C. Heard and others. During a stint in the Army jazz band in Japan during the Korean War (1951–1953), he was a regular member of Toshiko Akiyoshi's quartet. After his return, he also played the alto saxophone, recording on it with Al Cohn (1954), in his own session with Warren Fitzgerald (1955), on "Word From Bird" with the Teddy Charles Tentet (1956) and as one of the "Four Altos" with Phil Woods, Sahib Shihab and Gene Quill (1957). The record made with Fitzgerald was reissued decades later after becoming something of a cult classic in Japan.
After realizing the GI bill would not cover the cost of completing his degree at Juilliard, he got his Masters degree at Manhattan School of Music in 1960. Stein embarked on a career as an educator, while continuing to perform regularly. During the '60's he taught in public schools in New York and California. Starting in the 70's, he taught at Stanford University, Mills College, University of California at San Francisco and San Francisco State University, as well as privately. During the late 70's and early '80's he taught in Jamey Aebersold workshops around the world.
Some of the musicians he worked with from the 60's on include Benny Carter, Chick Corea, Sammy Davis Jr., Kenny Dorham, James Brown, Kenny Drew, Elvin Jones, Louis Hayes, Bill Evans, Joe Henderson, Joe Farrell, Nancy Wilson, Jessica Williams, and Rob Schneiderman.
In 1968 he moved to the West Coast, and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971, where he spent his remaining years. He led his own quartet during the 70's and 80's, "Plank 'n Stein" featuring Al Plank on piano; later incarnations of his quartet were eponymous. In the late 80's and early '90's he made several solo tours of Europe, playing in France, Germany, and Italy.
"Spirit!" (his first recording as a leader since 1955) was released in 2006 and featured his working ensemble of pianist Lee Bloom, bassist John Wiitala and drummer Danny Spencer.
His father, Ralph Stein, was born in Dwinsk, Russia in 1898. His original surname was Eisenstein, which was shortened after emigrating to the U.S. His mother, Jeanette Weiss, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants, was born in New York City in 1900. He had one sister, Marilyn Zatz. He married singer Shae Bevan in 1957; they divorced in 1977, and he did not remarry. They had three children: Greg (b. 1957), a mathematician; Jennie (b. 1959) a singer and composer; and Naomi (b. 1968), an actor. All three children have followed in his footsteps as educators in their respective fields. His first grandchild, Rebecca, the daughter of Jennie, was born in 1989; his second, Madelyn, was born in 2008, a few months after his death, his third, Benjamin, was born in 2010, both children of Naomi.
He was still active teaching and performing until just a few months before his death.