Buddy Tate

Buddy Tate

Jazz saxophonist Buddy Tate with pianist Bubba Kolb at the Village Jazz Lounge in Walt Disney World
Background information
Birth name George Holmes Tate
Born (1913-02-22)February 22, 1913
Sherman, Texas, U.S.
Died February 10, 2001(2001-02-10) (aged 87)
Chandler, Arizona
Genres Swing, big band
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Saxophone, clarinet

George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.

Biography

Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, and began performing on alto saxophone. As a teenager in 1925, he played with his brother and their band called McCloud's Night Owls."[1]

Tate quickly switched to tenor saxophone making a name for himself in bands such as the one led by Andy Kirk. He joined Count Basie's band in 1939 and stayed with him until 1948. He had been selected by Basie after the sudden death of Herschel Evans, which Tate stated he had predicted in a dream.

After his period with Basie ended, he worked with several other bands before he found success on his own, starting in 1953 in Harlem. His group worked at the "Celebrity Club" from 1953 to 1974.[2] In the late 1970s, he co-led a band with Paul Quinichette and worked with Benny Goodman.

In 1980, he received serious injuries from scalding water in a hotel shower, which kept him inactive for four months.[3] He later suffered from a serious illness. The 1990s saw him slow down, but he remained active playing with Lionel Hampton among others.

In 1992, he took part in the documentary, Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story. In 1996, he recorded with woodwind artist James Carter on the younger man's second release for Atlantic Records Conversin' With The Elders along with trumpeters Harry "Sweets" Edison and Lester Bowie, and saxophonists Hamiet Bluiett and Larry Smith. He lived in New York until 2001 when he moved to Arizona to be cared for by his daughter. He died in Chandler, Arizona, at the age of 87.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Ray Bryant

With James Carter

With Buck Clayton

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

With Roy Eldridge

With Dicky Wells

References

  1. ↑ "Buddy Tate". All About Jazz. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Most Valued Player: Buddy Tate". Jazz Institute of Chicago. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  3. ↑ Porter, Bob (1981). Helen (LP). Helen Humes. New York: Muse Records.
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