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Jack Nimitz
He started on the clarinet when he was 12, switching to alto two years later, and gigging locally at 15. In 1949, Nimitz started specializing on the baritone and soon was playing with such territory bands as those led by Bob Astor, Johnny Bothwell, and Daryl Harpa.
From 1952-1953, he was back in Washington, D.C., before touring with Woody Herman (October 1953 to September 1955) and a few months with Stan Kenton (1955-1956). He was a regular in the house band at the Savoy and then spent an additional year with Kenton (1958-1959).
Settling in Los Angeles, Nimitz became a busy studio musician and also played with Bill Berry, Benny Carter, Gerald Wilson, Supersax (since its beginning in 1972), Bill Perkins' Big Band, Bud Shank, Frank Strazzeri's Woodwinds West, the Lighthouse All-Stars, and any other high-quality jazz group that needed a talented baritonist. Source: Scott Yanow
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Stan Kenton and His Orchestra: In a Lighter Vein
by Jack Bowers
Stan Kenton was a man of many moods, as was his intrepid and popular orchestra, which endured until his passing in August 1979 and whose renown is kept alive even today by the Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra. Kenton dons his carefree hat on In a Lighter Vein, an assortment of straight-ahead themes from the orchestra's jazz library, preserved in five concert performances from 1953-55 beneath the umbrella of NBC radio's All Star Parade of Bands. Original compositions ...
read moreJack Nimitz: Baritone-in-Chief
by Jack Bowers
Baritone saxophonist Jack Nimitz died June 10, 2009 at his home in Studio City, California. He was 79 years old. That's hardly headline news except to a relative handful of jazz enthusiasts who were privileged to hear and appreciate his consummate artistry over the span of more than half a century when Nimitz was at the top of his game.
He was, in fact, playing remarkably well almost to his last labored breath (Nimitz had suffered from emphysema for several ...
read moreJack Nimitz and Friends . . .: Yesterday and Today
by Jack Bowers
Yesterday and Today comprises two sessions recorded half a century apart, each of which offers a rare chance to sing the praises of baritone saxophonist Jack Nimitz, a longtime standout on the West Coast scene. Somehow he has managed to produce only three albums with his name above the marquee, the first of which--Confirmation--was released in 1995, the same year he turned old enough to start cashing Social Security checks. While it's not true that Nimitz' picture appears next to ...
read moreJack Nimitz Baritone Sax Player Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Jack Nimitz played clarinet and alto saxophone before discovering the baritone sax and falling in love with the instrument's voice. It sounded so warm and nice and dark and rich," he said.
Nimitz played with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Herbie Mann and had a busy career as a studio musician in Hollywood.
Jack Nimitz, a jazz baritone saxophonist who played in the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton big bands and in the group Supersax," died Wednesday of complications from ...
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Jack Nimitz: 1930-2009
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Sometimes fate does not distribute her gifts based on merit. Jack Nimitz never achieved the recognition, popularity or record sales of Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams or Serge Chaloff. Nonetheless, he was fully their peer as a baritone saxophonist of the post-bop era. Nimitz died last week in Los Angeles at the age of 79. From the early 1950s in Washington, DC, with The Orchestra, through the bands of Bob Astor, Johnny Bothwell, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, Nimitz was a ...
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Jack Nimitz
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Jack Nimitz, Yesterday And Today (Fresh Sound). Yesterday" was 1957, when the distinctive baritone saxophonist recorded a long-playing album for ABC-Paramount. The LP sat unissued for half a century. Today" was early last year, when Nimitz went into the studio to record new music to add to the 1957 material and round out a compact disc. Nimitz's tone has more heft and his soloing more aggressiveness than fifty years ago. In both instances, his playing is superb.
In New York ...
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