Phil Woods
Woods in 1978
Woods in 1978
Background information
Birth namePhilip Wells Woods
Born(1931-11-02)November 2, 1931
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedSeptember 29, 2015(2015-09-29) (aged 83)
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument(s)Alto saxophone, clarinet

Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931[1] – September 29, 2015)[2] was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer.

Biography

Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1] After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began taking lessons at a local music shop. His heroes on the alto saxophone included Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges. He studied music with Lennie Tristano at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Juilliard School.[1] His friend, Joe Lopes, coached him on clarinet as there was no saxophone major at Juilliard at the time and received a bachelor’s degree in 1952. Although he did not copy Charlie Parker, Woods was known as the New Bird, a nickname also given to other alto saxophone players such as Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley.

In the 1950s, Woods began to lead his own bands. Quincy Jones invited him to accompany Dizzy Gillespie on a world tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department. A few years later he toured Europe with Jones, and in 1962 he toured Russia with Benny Goodman.[3]

After moving to France in 1968, Woods led the European Rhythm Machine, a group which tended toward avant-garde jazz.[1] He returned to the United States in 1972 and, after an unsuccessful attempt to establish an electronic group, he formed a quintet[1] which was still performing, with some changes of personnel, in 2004. As his theme, Woods used a piece titled "How's Your Mama?"

Woods earned the top alto sax player award almost 30 times in DownBeat magazine's annual readers' poll. His quintet was awarded the top small combo title several times.[3]

In 1979, Woods recorded the album More Live at Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Perhaps his best known recorded work as a sideman is a pop piece, his alto sax solo on Billy Joel's 1977 "Just the Way You Are".[1] He also played the alto sax solo on Steely Dan's "Doctor Wu" from their 1975 album Katy Lied,[4] as well as Paul Simon's "Have a Good Time" from the 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years.[5]

Woods in 1983

Although Woods was primarily a saxophonist, he was also a clarinet player and solos can be found scattered through his recordings. One particular example is his clarinet solo on "Misirlou" on the compilation album, Into the Woods.[6]

Woods, along with Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert, founded the organization Celebration of the Arts (COTA) in 1978 late one night in the bar at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap. The organization would eventually become the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts. Their initial goal was to help foster an appreciation of jazz and its relationship to other artistic disciplines. Each year, the organization hosts the Celebration of the Arts Festival in the town of Delaware Water Gap in September.

In 2005, Jazzed Media released the documentary Phil Woods: A Life in E Flat – Portrait of a Jazz Legend, directed by Rich Lerner and produced by Graham Carter.[7]

Woods was married to Chan Parker, the common-law wife of Charlie Parker, for seventeen years and was the stepfather to Chan's daughter, Kim.[3] On September 4, 2015, he performed a tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and announced at the end of the show that he would be retiring. He died a little more than three weeks later of emphysema on September 29, 2015, at the age of 83.[2]

Awards

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Recording date Title / Co-leader Label Year released Notes
1954-10,
1955-02		 Pot Pie with Jon Eardley New Jazz1963
1955-05 Woodlore Prestige1956
1956-06 Pairing Off Prestige1956
1956-11 The Young Bloods with Donald Byrd Prestige1957
1957-02 Four Altos with Gene Quill, Hal Stein, Sahib Shihab Prestige1957
1957-03 Phil and Quill with Prestige with Gene Quill Prestige1957
1957-07 Sugan Status1965
1957-09,
1957-10		 Warm Woods Epic1958
1961-01,
1961-02		 Rights of Swing Candid1961
1967-01,
1967-02		 Greek Cooking Impulse!1967
1968-06 Alto Summit with Lee Konitz, Pony Poindexter and Leo Wright MPS1968
1968-11 Alive And Well In Paris Pathé1968
1969-06 Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Montreux Jazz Festival MGM1970Live
1969-07 Round Trip Verve1969
1970-03 Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival Embryo1971Live
1972-07 Live At Montreux 72 Verve1972Live
1973 New Music by the New Phil Woods Quartet Testament1974
1974-01 Musique du Bois Muse1974
1975-02 Images with Michel Legrand RCA Victor1975
1975-07 Phil Woods & The Japanese Rhythm Machine RCA Victor1976Live
1975-10 –
1975-12		 The New Phil Woods Album RCA Victor1976
1976-04 Floresta Canto with Chris Gunning Orchestra RCA1976
1976-11 Live from the Show Boat RCA Victor1977[2LP] Live
1977-11 Summer Afternoon Jazz Hindsight1978
1978-03 I Remember Gryphon1979
1978-11 Song for Sisyphus Century1978
1979-05 Phil Woods Quartet Live Clean Cuts1980Live
1979-05 'More' Live Adelphi1981Live
1980-11 European Tour Live Red1981Live
1980-12 Phil Woods/Lew Tabackin with Lew Tabackin Omnisound1981
1981-01 Three for All with Tommy Flanagan and Red Mitchell Enja1981
1982-05 Live from New York Palo Alto1985Live
1982-10 At the Vanguard Antilles1983Live
1984-04 Integrity Red1985[2LP] Live
1984? Piper at the Gates of Dawn with Chris Swansen Sea Breeze Jazz1984
1984-12 Heaven Evidence1986
1986-12 Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet with Dizzy Gillespie Timeless1987
1987-11 Bop Stew Concord1988Live
1987-11 Bouquet Concord1989Live
1988-04 Phil's Mood with Space Jazz Trio Philology1990
1988-05 Evolution Concord1988
1988-05 Little Big Band Évolution Concord1988
1988-07 Embracable You Philology1989
1988-10 My Man Benny, My Man Phil with Benny Carter MusicMasters1989
1988-12 Here's to My Lady Chesky1989
1989-04 Flash Concord1990
1990-06 All Bird Children Concord1991
1990-09 Real Life Concord1991
1991? Altoist! Rockin' Chair1991
1991-06 Flowers for Hodges Concord1991
1991-09 Full House Milestone1992
1994-06 Just Friends Philology1997
1994-11 Our Monk Philology1996
1995-02 Plays the Music of Jim McNeely TCB1996
1996-03 Another Time, Another Place with Benny Carter Evening Star1996Live
1996-04 Mile High Jazz Live in Denver Concord1996Live
1996-05 The Complete Concert with Gordon Beck JMS1996[2CD] Live
1996-05 Astor and Elis Chesky1996
1997-01 Celebration! Concord1997
1997-10 Chasin' The Bird Venus1998
1998-01 The Rev and I with Johnny Griffin Blue Note1998
1999-01 Cool Woods somethin' else1999
2000-05 Phil Woods In Italy 2000 (Chapter 1–7) Philology 2001
2002-06 The Thrill Is Gone Venus2003
2002 American Songbook with Brian Lynch Kind of Blue2006
2003-06? Beyond Brooklyn with Herbie Mann Manchester Craftsmen's Guild2004Finished weeks before Mann's death. Dedicated to Mann.
2005-06 Bird With Strings ... And More! Storyville2023[2CD] Live
2005-09 The Gershwin Affair with Franco D'Andrea Philology2006
2005-09 Blues For New Orleans with Irio De Paula Philology2006
2007-01 American Songbook II with Brian Lynch Kind of Blue2007
2008-06 Ballads & Blues Venus2009
2009-01 Sing & Play The Phil Woods Songbook (Vol.1 & Vol. 2) with Michela Lombardi Philology2010
2008-02,
2009-05		 Solitude with The DePaul University Jazz Ensemble Jazzed Media2010
2010-06 Songs For COTA 2010 with Jesse Green Philology2010
2010-09 Phil & Bill with Bill Mays Palmetto2011
2010? Man with the Hat with Grace Kelly Pazz2011
2013-04 –
2013-06		 New CelebrationChiaroscuro2013
2014-12 Songs One with Vic JurisPhilology2015

Compilation

Woods in Oslo, 2007
  • Altology (Prestige, 1976)[2LP] – rec. 1956–57
  • Into the Woods (The Best of Phil Woods) (Concord, 1996)
  • Moonlight In Vermont (CTI, 2005)[4CD]
  • Complete Quintet And Sextet Sessions 1956-1957 (Fresh Sound, 2007)[2CD]
  • Phil woods (Red, 2019)

As sideman

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 437/8. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. 1 2 Rick Nowlin (September 29, 2015). "Phil Woods, legendary alto saxophonist who gave one more great performance here in early September, dies at 83". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  3. 1 2 3 Charles J. Gans (September 30, 2015). "Legendary Jazz Saxophonist Phil Woods Dies; Featured on Billy Joel Hit". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Katy Lied - Steely Dan | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Into the Woods: The Best of Phil Woods - Phil Woods | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Phil Woods - Bio | Capri Records Ltd". Caprirecords.com. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  8. 1 2 Phil Woods, Grammy at AllMusic

References

  • Gonzalez, Henry (1990). The Armadillo Years: A Visual History
  • Nisenson, Eric (1996). Round About Midnight – A Portrait of Miles Davis (2nd ed.). Da Capo: Printing Press. ISBN 0-306-80684-3.
  • Burke, Debbie (2011). The Poconos in B Flat. ISBN 978-1469134598.
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