RIP Bud Shank

Veteran West Coast jazz sax player Clifford "Bud" Shank died Apr. 2 of heart failure at age 82. Apparently he was in the studio recording a new CD on Wednesday. You may recall I featured Shank on the blog last May. He was born May 27, 1926 in Dayton, OH. Shank attended the University Of North Carolina from 1944-46. He played various reed instruments but concentrated on alto sax and flute. He moved to California after college and played with Shorty Rogers, Charlie Barnet & Stan Kenton. Shank was a big part of the West Coast jazz scene of the 50s. He played with just about everyone and recorded several albums as a leader for Pacific Jazz in the late 50s-early 60s. He became an in demand session player in the 60s. His 1966 album with Chet Baker called Michelle hit the pop charts. You may have heard his flute solo on The Mamas And The Papas hit California Dreaming. He also appeared on the score of the 1967 film The Thomas Crown Affair. In the 70s, he formed the LA Four with Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida, bassist Ray Brown and a revolving drum chair. He also was a regular in The Tonight Show band. Shank gave up playing the flute in 1986 and concentrated on the alto sax in recent years recording for Contemporary & Candid. Most recently he was recording for Jazzed Media, a company based in Denver owned by Graham Carter. His latest CD with pianist Bill Mays called Beyond The Red Door was released in 2007. He was scheduled to release a new CD sometime this year. Jazzed Media has also produced a Bud Shank documentary called Against The Tide on DVD and here's the trailer. RIP Bud Shank.