Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne, who asserted the baritone’s role in bop, died Tuesday morning of cancer in New York.
Payne was born in New York City on Dec. 14, 1922. He started his musical life singing and playing guitar. After hearing Young on a recording with Count Basie, Payne asked his father, who played tenor, for a horn and received an alto. His father thought the light, airy playing of Young was done on the alto. Payne mastered that as well as the clarinet, which he played in army bands from ‘43 to ‘46. In ‘46 Payne made his debut on baritone sax with a band led by Clarence Briggs, and his last recording on alto on a session led by J.J. Johnson. After a stint with Roy Eldridge, Payne established himself as a bop saxophonist in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. Settled in New York City, he played in bands led by James Moody and Tadd Dameron; freelanced from ‘49 to ‘52; toured with Illinois Jacquet from ‘52 to ‘54; and made notable recordings with Duke Jordan and Randy Weston. Payne retired from the jazz scene during the late ‘50s but acted and wrote songs for Jack Gelber’s play The Connection in the early ‘60s.
Payne returned to music as a soloist in Machito’s Afro-Cubans and with Lucky Thompson’s octet. After touring Europe with Lionel Hampton in ‘64, he again left the scene, only to return a couple years later to play with Weston, Woody Herman, and Gillespie. After a two-year stint with Basie, Payne formed a quartet which was active well into the ‘80s. Payne also recorded with Nick Brignola in ‘79 and formed a trio with Bill Harman and Richard Wyand in ‘86.
Recently, Payne began playing gigs in New York after six years in seclusion due to blindness. He reunited with friends, Quincy Jones, Ron Carter, Frank Foster, Freddie Hubbard, when he played the annual “Great Night In Harlem” Benefit Concert for the Jazz Foundation at the Apollo. After this, Cecil found time to perform in the local nursing homes in the Somerdale area, entertaining elderly patients for free.
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
May 20, 2025 11:58 AM
Branford Marsalis was on the road again. Coffee cup in hand, the saxophonist — sporting a gray hoodie and a look of…
“What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.
May 13, 2025 12:39 PM
Part of the jazz vibraphone conversation since her late teens, Sasha Berliner has long come across as a fully formed…
Roscoe Mitchell will receive a Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s Vision Festival.
May 27, 2025 6:21 PM
Arts for Art has announced the full lineup for the 2025 Vision Festival, which will run June 2–7 at Roulette…
