Phil Woods – Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano (sheet music)

Phil Woods

Woods ( Springfield , Massachusetts , November 2, 1931 – Stroudsbourg, Pennsylvania , September 29, 2015 ) was an American jazz Philip Wells musician , saxophonist alto , and clarinetist ; he has also occasionally played the soprano . He falls into the stylistic current of bebop.

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Phil Woods studied music with Lennie Tristano , who has been a major influence on his career, at the Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School . His friend Joe Lopes taught him to play the clarinet, as there was no lead saxophone at Juilliard at the time. Although he never copied Charlie Parker , he was known as the “New Bird”, a nickname that has also been applied to other musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley at one point or another in his careers.

He wanted to take the baton from Parker and expressed it like this: “They say that Charlie Parker was God. In that case, I am his messenger ” or “I never get tired of playing Charlie Parker’s music, in the same way that no one gets tired of playing Mozart”.

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His professional career began in 1954 with a brief collaboration with Richard Haynes . He later was engaged by the Charlie Barnet Orchestras and by the Jimmy Raney Quintet . Also in 1954 he recorded his first album under his name and in a quintet for the “New Jazz” label and entitled Phil Woods and New Jazz Quintet .

In 1956, he entered Dizzy Gillespie, performing all over the world during the three years he was with him. He then moved on to drummer Buddy Rich’s Orchestra band in 1958 and between 1959 and 1961, he played in the Quincy Jones .

In 1961, Phil Woods recorded his first album as a quintet with his own compositions, Rights of Swing , for the “Candid” label with the accompaniment of Tommy Flanagan on piano and Curtis Fuller on trombone.

In 1962, he participated in the group that accompanied Benny Goodman on a tour in the Soviet Union sponsored by the State Department, of which the album Benny Goodman and his Orchestra in Moscow remains .

Phil Woods later performed and recorded in the Thelonious Monk and Oliver Nelson groups , but did not record again as a leader until 1966. He collaborated with a host of jazz musicians throughout his life. His contributions can be highlighted of him on albums by John Lewis ( Orchestra USA ), Sonny Rollins ( Alfie ), Stéphane Grapelli ( Master Sessions, vol. 1 ) and Bill Evans ( Symbiosis ). Or in soundtracks of famous films like El hustler or Blow Up .

After going to France in 1968, Woods led The European Rhythm Machine , along with pianist Gordon Beck; Henri Texier, on double bass; and Daniel Humair, on drums, a group that tended towards the jazz avant-garde. He returned to the United States in 1972 and, after a failed attempt to establish an electronic group, he formed a quintet that lasted, with some changes in its members, until 2004.

In 1973, after a musical encounter with Michel Legrand , Woods recorded the album Musique du Bois , which is situated in the modern jazz tradition and helps to redirect jazz to its natural channels on the basis of updating the forms of bebop.

In 1979, Phil Woods recorded More Live , at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. His best-known work as a sideman has perhaps been Billy Joel’s pop song ” Just the Way You Are “, in which he plays alto sax. He also played alto sax on Steely Dan’s “Doctor Wu”, from his well-known and highly praised 1975 album Katy Lied , as well as Paul Simon’s 1975 hit Have a Good Time .

During his last years he recorded some tributes to fellow musicians such as Thelonious Monk , Our Monk , a selection of his compositions recorded with the Italian pianist Franco D’Andrea.

When he was named a Master of Jazz by the US National Endowment for the Arts 5 in 2007, he said:

“Jazz will never die. It’s music forever, and I like to think that my music is somewhere and will have a duration that may not be forever, but that it can influence others.”

Although Woods is primarily a saxophonist, he is also a fine clarinet player and his solos are scattered throughout his recordings. A good example is his clarinet solo in Misirlou from the album Into The Woods .

Woods was married to Chan Parker, the widow of Charlie Parker, for seventeen years. On the morning of September 29, 2015, great teacher Phil Woods passed away after a long battle with pulmonary emphysema.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

1954– 55: Pot Pie (New Jazz, 1963) with Jon Eardley
1955: Woodlore (Prestige, 1956)
1956: Pairing Off (Prestige, 1956)
1956: The Young Bloods (Prestige, 1957) with Donald Byrd
1957: Four Altos (Prestige) with Gene Quill, Hal Stein, Sahib Shihab
1957: Phil and Quill with Prestige with Gene Quill
1957: Sugan (Status)
1957: Warm Woods (Epic)
1961: Rights of Swing (Candid)
1967: Greek Cooking (Impulse!)
1968: Alto Summit (MPS) with Lee Konitz, Pony Poindexter and Leo Wright
1968: Alive And Well In Paris (Pathé)
1969: Round Trip (Verve)
1970: Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (Embryo)
1970: Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Montreux Jazz Festival (MGM)
1972: Live At Montreux 72 (Verve)
1974: New Music by the New Phil Woods Quartet (Testament)
1974: Musique du Bois (Muse)
1975: Floresta Canto (RCA) with Chris Gunning Orchestra
1975: Images (RCA Victor) with Michel Legrand
1976: Phil Woods & The Japanese Rhythm Machine (RCA Victor)
1976: The New Phil Woods Album
1976: Altology (Prestige)
1977: Live from the Show Boat
1977: Summer Afternoon Jazz (Hindsight)
1978: Song for Sisyphus (King (Japan))
1979: I Remember (Gryphon)
1980: Phil Woods Quartet Live (Clean Cuts)
1980: Phil Woods/Lew Tabackin (Omnisound) with Lew Tabackin
1981: Three for All (Enja) with Tommy Flanagan and Red Mitchell
1981: 'More' Live (Adelphi)
1981: European Tour Live (Red)
1982: Live from New York (Palo Alto)
1983: At the Vanguard (Antilles)
1984: Integrity (Red)
1984: Heaven (Evidence)
1984: Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Sea Breeze Jazz) with Chris Swansen
1986: Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet (Timeless) with Dizzy Gillespie
1987: Bop Stew; Bouquet (Concord)
1988: Evolution; Here's to My Lady (Concord)
1988 "Little Big Band Évolution"
1989: Embracable You (Philology)
1989: My Man Benny, My Man Phil (MusicMasters) with Benny Carter
1989: Here's to My Lady (Chesky)
1990: Flash (Concord)
1990: Phil's Mood (Philology)
1991: All Bird Children; Real Life (Concord)
1991: Flowers for Hodges (Concord)
1991 "Altoist"
1991: Real Life, The Little Big Band (Chesky)
1992: Full House (Milestone)
1994: Just Friends; Our Monk (Philology)
1995: Plays the Music of Jim McNeely (TCB)
1996: Mile High Jazz Live in Denver (Concord)
1996: Another Time, Another Place (Evening Star) with Benny Carter
1996: Astor and Elis (Chesky)
1996: The Complete Concert (JMS) with Gordon Beck
1997: Celebration! (Concord)
1998: The Rev and I (Blue Note) with Johnny Griffin
1999: Cool Woods (somethin' else)
2003: The Thrill Is Gone (Venus)
2004: Beyond Brooklyn with Herbie Mann, finished weeks before Mann's death
2006: Pass the Bebop (Cowbell) with Benjamin Koppel and Alex Riel Trio
2006: Tel Aviv Jazz Festival (Philology) with Robert Anchipolovsky and Tony Pancella Trio
2006: American Songbook (Kind of Blue) with Brian Lynch
2007: American Songbook, Vol. 2 (Kind of Blue) with Brian Lynch
2009: Ballads & Blues (Venus)
2011: Man with the Hat (Pazz) with Grace Kelly
2011: Phil & Bill with Bill Mays (Palmetto)

Compilation

Into the Woods (The Best of Phil Woods) (Concord, 1996)
Moonlight In Vermont (CTI, 2005)[4CD]

As sideman

With Manny Albam

Jazz Goes to the Movies (Impulse!, 1962)
The Soul of the City (Solid State, 1966)

With Gary Burton

1962: Who Is Gary Burton? (RCA, 1963)
1964: The Groovy Sound of Music (RCA, 1965)

With Dizzy Gillespie

World Statesman (Norgran, 1956)
Dizzy in Greece (Verve, 1957)
The New Continent (Limelight, 1962)
Rhythmstick (CTI, 1990)

With Friedrich Gulda

Friedrich Gulda at Birdland (RCA Victor, 1957)
A Man of Letters (Decca, 1957)

With Quincy Jones

The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)
I Dig Dancers (Mercury, 1960)
The Quintessence (Impulse!, 1961)
Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)
Golden Boy (Mercury, 1964)
I/We Had a Ball (Limelight, 1965)
Quincy Plays for Pussycats (Mercury, 1965]) – recorded in 1959-65

With Michel Legrand

Legrand Jazz (Philips, 1958)
After the Rain (Pablo, 1982)
Michel Legrand and Friends (RCA, 1975)

With Bryan Lynch

Simpático (The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project) (ArtistShare, 2006)
Bolero Nights for Billie Holiday (Venus, 2008)

With Herbie Mann

The Jazz We Heard Last Summer (Savoy, 1957)
Yardbird Suite (Savoy, 1957)

With the Modern Jazz Quartet

Jazz Dialogue (Atlantic, 1965)
MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration (Atlantic, 1994)

With Thelonious Monk

The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (Riverside, 1959) – live
Big Band and Quartet in Concert (Columbia, 1963) – live

With Oliver Nelson

Impressions of Phaedra (United Artists, 1962)
Full Nelson (Verve, 1963)
More Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!, 1964)
Fantabulous (Argo, 1964)
Oliver Nelson Plays Michelle (Impulse!, 1966)
Happenings with Hank Jones (Impulse!, 1966)
The Sound of Feeling (Verve, 1966)
Encyclopedia of Jazz (Verve, 1966)
The Spirit of '67 with Pee Wee Russell (Impulse!, 1967)
The Kennedy Dream (Impulse!, 1967)
Jazzhattan Suite (Verve, 1968)

With Lalo Schifrin

Samba Para Dos with Bob Brookmeyer (Verve, 1963)
Once a Thief and Other Themes (Verve, 1965)

With Jimmy Smith

Monster (Verve, 1965)
Hoochie Coochie Man (Verve, 1966)
Got My Mojo Workin' (Verve, 1966)

With Clark Terry

The Happy Horns of Clark Terry (Impulse!, 1964)
Squeeze Me! (Chiaroscuro, 1989)

With George Wallington

Jazz for the Carriage Trade (Prestige, 1956)
The New York Scene (Prestige, 1957)
Jazz at Hotchkiss (Savoy, 1957)