Cecil Payne

Acclaimed by peers and critics among the best possible baritone saxophonists from the bebop era, Cecil Payne continues to be best kept in mind for his three-year stint with Dizzy Gillespie’s seminal postwar big strap. Created in Brooklyn, NY, on Dec 14, 1922, Payne started playing saxophone at age group 13, gravitating towards the device after hearing Lester Young’s focus on Count number Basie’s “Honeysuckle Rose.” Young’s supple, lilting shade continued to be a profound impact throughout Payne’s profession. After understanding how to play beneath the tutelage of regional altoist Pete Dark brown, Payne gigged in some regional groups before getting his draft documents in 1942. He spent the four years using a U.S. Military music group, and upon time for civilian life produced his documented debut for Savoy to get J.J. Johnson. Throughout a short stint with Roy Eldridge, Payne deposit his alto and 1st used the baritone. Later on that yr he became a member of the Gillespie orchestra, making renown for his unusually elegant method of a historically unwieldy device. Payne appears of all of Gillespie’s essential recordings out of this period, including “Cubano-Be/Cubano-Bop,” and solos on slashes like “Ow!” and “Stick to It,” but despite near-universal respect one of the jazz cognoscenti, he continued to be a little-known and also neglected amount throughout his profession. After exiting the Gillespie rates in 1949, Payne headlined a program for Decca supported by pianist Duke Jordan and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Pursuing tenures with Tadd Dameron and Coleman Hawkins, in 1952 Payne released a two-year stint with Illinois Jacquet, and in 1956, he toured Sweden alongside youth friend Randy Weston. That same calendar year, Payne also headlined the Savoy LP Patterns of Jazz. In 1957, he and fellow baritonist Pepper Adams supported the renowned John Coltrane on Dakar. Soon after the program he empty the music business to operate for his father’s property firm and didn’t return to executing until 1960. The next year Payne became a member of the cast of playwright Jack port Gelber’s off-Broadway strike THE BOND, an exposé from the metropolitan drug culture up to date by its on-stage jazz shows. Following that, he once again toured Europe, this time around as an associate of Lionel Hampton’s music group, but came back stateside and then resume his property work. Payne documented just a couple of sessions within the years to check out, especially Zodiac, an excellent 1969 time for the Strata-East label. He even so continued to be a respected sideman, dealing with Machito from 1963 to 1966 and spending another 2 yrs with Woody Herman. In 1969, he became a member of Basie, with whom he performed for 3 years. Payne spent the 1970s on / off the radar, slicing classes for Xanadu and Muse in addition to joining the brand new York Jazz Repertory Orchestra in 1974. He also toured European countries together with a musical theatre showcase entitled The Musical Existence of Charlie Parker. Through the 1980s, he concentrated his energies into Dameronia, a music group shaped by drummer Philly Joe Jones in tribute towards the music of Tadd Dameron. Payne continuing using the ensemble through the entire 10 years, assuming a much greater innovative role pursuing Jones’ 1985 loss of life. He also rejoined Jacquet for a protracted stint, and toured the brand new York City golf club circuit with Bebop Era, a sextet he founded and led. Through the early ’90s, Payne helmed some well-regarded albums for Delmark. Nevertheless, as the 10 years used on he appeared to vanish, and finally close friends and admirers discovered him surviving in his Brooklyn house, a digital recluse experiencing declining eyesight and living on the modicum of meals. A very pleased, fiercely independent guy, Payne just grudgingly recognized the economic assistance from the Jazz Base of America, but his wellness quickly improved and with time he came back to executing. He continuing playing frequently well into his eighties, loss of life November 27, 2007, simply weeks timid of his 85th birthday.