The Most Underrated Saxophonist in Jazz

 

From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. 

Paul Gonsalves (July 12, 1920 – May 15, 1974) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," a performance credited with revitalizing Ellington's waning career in the 1950s. Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, to Portuguese Cape Verdean parents, Gonsalves' first instrument was the guitar, and as a child he was regularly asked to play Cape Verdean folk songs for his family. He grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and played as a member of the Sabby Lewis Orchestra. His first professional engagement in Boston was with the same group on tenor saxophone, in which he played before and after his military service during World War II. He also played with fellow Cape Verdean Americans in Phil Edmund's band in the 1940s. Before joining Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1950, he also played in big bands led by Count Basie (1947–1949) and Dizzy Gillespie (1949–1950). At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves' solo in Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" went through 27 choruses; the publicity from this performance is credited with reviving Ellington's career. The performance is captured on the album Ellington at Newport. Gonsalves was a featured soloist in numerous Ellingtonian settings. He received the nickname "The Strolling Violins" from Ellington for playing solos while walking through the crowd. Gonsalves died in London ten days before Duke Ellington's death, after a lifetime of addiction to alcohol and narcotics. Mercer Ellington refused to tell Duke of the passing of Gonsalves, fearing the shock might further accelerate his father's decline. Ellington and Gonsalves, along with trombonist Tyree Glenn, lay side by side in the same New York funeral home for a period of time. Gonsalves is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. January 9, 1962. The Duke Ellington Orchestra Trumpet: Ray Nance, Shorty Baker, Cat Anderson, Bill Berry, Ed Mullens Trombone: Lawrence Brown, Leon Cox, Chuck Conners Alto-saxophone: Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges Tenor-saxophone: Paul Gonsalves Clarinet (and tenor-saxophone): Jimmy Hamilton Baritone-saxophone: Harry Carney Piano: Duke Ellington Bass: Aaron Bell Drums: Sam Woodyard Video courtesy Storyville Records: https://storyvillerecords.com #dukeellington STORYVILLE RECORDS IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST JAZZ RECORD LABELS AND THE OLDEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ LABEL IN EUROPE. Named after the notorious New Orleans district where jazz was born, the label was launched in Copenhagen in 1952 by jazz fanatic Karl Emil Knudsen. Storyville originally sold imported American records but when the burgeoning post war jazz scene attracted the American jazz artists to tour in Europe and Scandinavia Knudsen seized every opportunity to record his jazz heroes for the label. By late 2003 when Karl Emil Knudsen, the self-styled “Doctor of Jazz Archaeology”, passed away, his Storyville label was considered by the jazz cognoscenti to be the Scandinavian equivalent to America’s Blue Note Records. The Storyville archive includes recordings by Louis Armstrong, Ben Webster, Duke Ellington, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Benny Carter, to name but a few. Storyville Records was also instrumental in launching the career of some of the most influential Danish jazz artists including Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Fessor’s Big City Band and the legendary Papa Bues Viking Jazz Band. In 2005 Edition Wilhelm Hansen, a Danish company with over 150 years in music publishing and part of the Wise Music Group acquired Storyville from Knudsen’s family. Anders Stefansen and Mona Granager, both long standing associates who worked with Knudsen to build the label, have stayed on with Storyville and will preserve the label’s unique identity. As part of Wise Music’s family of companies Storyville Records is ideally placed to bring its wealth of classic recordings to new generations of jazz fans through CD re-releases, special collectors’ CD edition of rare jazz recordings and digital downloads. We are sure that Karl Emil would be delighted to know that his label lives on within a fiercely independent music company that shares the same passion for great music.