Home » Jazz Musicians » Frank Strozier

Frank Strozier

Frank Strozier (born June 13, 1937) is an alto saxophonist renowned for his playing in the hard bop idiom.

Frank Strozier has long been a top-notch hard bop stylist whose intense sound recalls (but is not derivative of) Jackie McLean. One of many excellent jazzmen who grew up in Memphis, Strozier played with other Memphis musicians even after he moved to Chicago in 1954 (including Harold Mabern, Booker Little, and George Coleman). He recorded with the MJT + 3 from 1959-1960, and led sessions for Vee Jay during the same period. After moving to New York, Strozier was briefly with the Miles Davis Quintet in 1963 (between Hank Mobley and George Coleman), gigged with Roy Haynes, and then relocated to Los Angeles. During his L.A. years, he worked with Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, and most notably the Don Ellis big band (with whom he took a memorable solo on "K.C. Blues" from Ellis' Autumn album). He returned to New York in 1971, working with the Jazz Contemporaries, the New York Jazz Repertory Company, and Horace Parlan, among others, but not gaining the recognition he deserved. Frustrated with his lack of work, Strozier for a time reappeared as a pianist, but little resulted from that. Possibly his best work during that period is with trumpeter Woody Shaw. As a leader, Frank Strozier's Vee Jay recordings (with a great deal of added material) have been reissued on CD; his Jazzland dates from 1961-1962 remain out of print, and he also led sessions for Trident (1972) and SteepleChase (1976-1977).

Tags

9
Album Review

Shelly Manne & His Men: Jazz From The Pacific Northwest

Read "Jazz From The Pacific Northwest" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Shelly Manne & His Men are presented in two iterations in never-before-released live recordings from the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival and from a 1966 date at The Penthouse in Seattle entitled Jazz From The Pacific Northwest. In this deluxe limited edition 180-gram 2LP set, co-produced for release by the estimable Zev Feldman and Cory Weeds, the band captivated the audience with intricate melodies and vibrant improvisations driven by Manne's virtuosic drumming. The band on LP1 from ...

136
Album Review

Frank Strozier: Quartets and Sextets

Read "Quartets and Sextets" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


Talk about long overdue, the two albums contained on this new two-fer by neglected and forgotten saxophonist Frank Strozier have been highly sought after collectors items on vinyl, often fetching as much as $50 to $75 for mint copies. Now we have both Long Night from 1961 and the following year’s March of The Siamese Children out on one disc and a major portion of Strozier’s scant catalog has now been restored to its proper place in history.

221
Album Review

Frank Strozier: Long Night

Read "Long Night" reviewed by David Rickert


“Don't Follow The Crowd", a song on Frank Strozier's second release for Jazzland, is an apt title for an artist who worked hard to carve out a niche for himself in the jazz world. Unfortunately, Strozier is one of many who never got his due; despite gigs with Miles Davis, Don Ellis, and Chet Baker, Strozier quit playing music in the seventies out of frustration. His two early records for Jazzland have been reissued as a two-fer, and they show ...

Read more articles

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Long Night

Fantasy Jazz
2002

buy

Quartets and Sextets

Fantasy Jazz
2002

buy

Cool, Calm And...

Original Jazz Classics
2000

buy

Fantastic Frank...

KOCH Records
2000

buy

Fantastic Frank...

Original Jazz Classics
1960

buy

Similar

Benny Golson
saxophone, tenor
Art Pepper
saxophone, alto
Hank Mobley
saxophone, tenor
Jackie McLean
saxophone, alto
Donny McCaslin
saxophone, tenor
Phil Woods
saxophone, alto
Sonny Criss
saxophone, alto
Bobby Watson
saxophone, alto
David Murray
saxophone, tenor
George Coleman
saxophone, tenor

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.