Steve White (saxophonist)

Steve White
Birth name Stephen Gaylord Goorabian
Born November 20, 1925
Origin Fresno, California, USA
Died December 21, 2005 (aged 80)
Genres Cool jazz
West Coast jazz
Bop
Mainstream jazz
Hard bop
Post-bop
Occupation(s) Saxophonist
Instruments Tenor saxophone
Bari saxophone
Clarinet
Labels Nocturne
Pacific Jazz
Atlantic
OJC

Steve White (born Stephen Gaylord Goorabian, sometimes spelled Gailord; 20 November 1925 in Fresno, California – 21 December 2005 in Burbank, California) was an American jazz saxophonist based in Los Angeles who recorded in the 1950s with Nocturne Records, Pacific Jazz Records, and Atlantic Records. He primarily played tenor sax, but also played baritone and doubled on clarinet.[1][2][3][4] Steve White was friends with jazz musicians Harry Babasin and Bob Enevoldsen from the 1950s onwards.

Selected discography

As sideman[5]
With Tom Talbert
Wes Hensel, John Anderson, Johnny McComb (trumpets); John Halliburton, Harry Betts (trombones); El Koeling, Art Pepper (alto sax); Steve White, Johnny Barbera (tenor sax); Don Davidson (baritone sax); Claude Williamson (piano); Don Prell (bass); Jimmy Pratt (drums); Tom Talbert (leader)

––––––––––––––––––––

As leader
The Steve White Quartet/Quintet
Herbie Harper (trombone–1), Steve White (tenor sax, vocal), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Harry Babasin (bass), Roy Harte (drums)
Jazz in Hollywood by Original Jazz Classics CD1891-2, October 21, 1997
  1. "The perfect mate," by Steve White
  2. "The funk dispenser," by Steve White
  3. "Freeway," by Steve White
  4. "Ain't misbehavin'," by Fats Waller
  5. "How deep is the ocean?," by Irving Berlin
  6. "She was all wet," by Steve White
  7. "Red and white blew" (take 1, incomplete), by James George Hunter
  8. "Red and white blew" (take 2), by James George Hunter
  9. "Easy does it" (take 1) (1), by Count Basie & Bob Russell
  10. "Easy does it" (take 2) (1)
  11. "Nocturnal salesman" (1), by Steve White
  • Los Angeles, September 10, 1954, Jazz In Hollywood
Released on Nocturne LP9
Herbie Harper (trombone), Steve White (tenor sax, vocal), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Harry Babasin (bass), Roy Harte (drums)
  1. "Tea for two," by Vincent Youmans
  2. "How deep is the ocean?," by Irving Berlin
  3. "Body and soul," music by John W. Green
  4. "Flying home," by Benny Goodman, Eddie DeLange, and Lionel Hampton
  5. "Steve White's scandal"
  6. "The funk dispenser," by Steve White
  7. "Red & White blues"
Herbie Harper (trombone) Steve White (tenor sax, vocal), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Harry Babasin (bass), Larry Bunker (drums)
  1. "My new jet plane," by Steve White
  2. "Swing easy"
Herbie Harper (trombone) Steve White (tenor sax, vocal), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Harry Babasin (bass), Roy Harte (drums)
  1. "Topsy," by Eddie Durham & Edgar Battle
  2. "Crazy rhythm," by Roger Wolfe Kahn
  3. "'Tis autumn," by Henry Nemo
  4. "Body and soul," music by John W. Green
  5. "Tea for two," by Vincent Youmans
  6. "My new jet plane," by Steve White
  • Los Angeles, 1955
Jazz Mad: The Unpredictable Steve White, Liberty Records LJH6006, OCLC 43645597
Steve White (tenor sax, vocal), Bob Harrington (piano); Harry Babasin (bass), Boone Stines (drums)
  1. "Liberty in white"
  2. "Mister thing"
  3. "Musin'"
  4. "I only have eyes for you"
  5. "Rushin' the blues"
  6. "Beside a sea"
  7. "Stopped — you see"
  8. "Lazy lady blues," White (vocal)
  9. "What makes me blue today?"
  10. "It's only a paper moon," White (vocal)
  11. "Don't worry 'bout me," White (vocal)
  12. "April showers," White (vocal)

Family

Parents and grandparents

White's paternal grandparents — Stephen M. Goorabian (1870–1919) and Aznive Jarmagian (1887–1963) — were born in Armenia. White's father — Stephen Matthew "White" Goorabian (1905–1982) — was a saxophonist and former member of the Jimmy Dorsey Band. His father was the first to use the pseudonym "White."[6]

Spouse and offspring

On November 15, 1944, Steve, Jr., married Marcella Veronica Hayes (1920–1990) at the St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California.[7] Together they had two sons: Jeffrey Stephen White (born 1947) and David Hayes White (born 1950).

References

  1. ↑ Safford Chamberlain An Unsung Cat: The Life and Music of Warne Marsh, Scarecrow Press, 2000, p.45 ISBN 0810837188
  2. ↑ Gordon Jack (born 1941), Fifties Jazz Talk, An Oral Retrospective, Scarecrow Press, 2004, pp.81, 160, 193, 195 ISBN 0810849976
  3. ↑ 1998 Interview of Bob Enevoldsen, Jazz Journal International, 53:10, October 2000, p.12
    May 1998, transcription of taped response from Bob Enevoldsen
    OCLC 457010330, 1773905 and 399003286
    OCLC 470181563, 2612009 and 472898527
    ISSN 0140-2285
  4. ↑ Down Beat, Vol. 25, July 10, 1958, pp.10 & 13
  5. ↑ The Jazz Discography, Tom Lord online
  6. ↑ "Stephen Goorabian", The California Courier, September 9, 1982
  7. ↑ Stephen G. Goorabian, aka Steve G. White, and Marcella Hayes
    Marriage License No. 18223
    Los Angeles County, California
    Book 2249, pg. 64, Local Register No. 26154