for the Prestige record label. Allison toured Europe on and off in the 1960s and 1970s with his trio, often using local musicians to cover the bass and drum chairs.
Allison’s legacy is tied to the musicians he influenced as much as to his own ability to perform. He is held in high regard by blues and rock musicians, including Pete Townshend (the Who), Tom Waits, and the Yardbirds. Many of his compositions, such as “A Young Man’s Blues,” “Tell Me Something,” and “I’m Not Talking,” have been recorded multiple times by artists from other genres. In the late 1990s, Allison saw a resurgence of his popularity. His music has been used in motion pictures and several collaborative efforts with musicians including Van Morrison and Ben Sidran, adding to his legacy.
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Pitched in E-flat, the alto saxophone is one of the dominant members of the saxophone family along with the tenor. The alto’s range is from the D below middle C to A5 (and sometimes A, depending on the model of the saxophone). Alto saxophone has been a popular instrument in jazz, with this popularity especially heightened during Charlie Parker’s prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. See also ADDERLEY, JULIAN “CANNONBALL” (1928–1975); STITT, EDWARD “SONNY” (1924–1982); WOODS, PHILIP “PHIL” (1931–2015).
ALTSCHUL, BARRY (1943–)
Altschul grew up in New York and was exposed to jazz early on through Charles Tolliver and Junior Cook—musicians who lived in his neighborhood. He took up the drums and studied with hard bop drummer Charlie Persip during his teenage years. His career continually switched between straight-ahead groups and newer modern free jazz styles. During the mid-1960s, Altschul worked with Paul Bley as well as the group Circle that featured Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland, and Chick Corea, both groups that were considered highly experimental. Altschul would work with each of the members of Circle in their own groups as well. He recorded on Holland’s album Conference of the Birds (1972, ECM), which also featured Braxton, and toured with Braxton’s quartet, which ironically also featured Holland on bass.
From the late 1970s, Altschul freelanced with many performers including Sam Rivers, Paul Bley, Dave Liebman, Roswell Rudd, Pepper Adams, Ray Anderson, and Kenny Drew. Altschul would continue to play with Paul Bley’s groups throughout the 1980s as well as in reunion groups of all the influential groups that he had played for previously. Altschul has produced limited recording as a leader and had several notable recordings in the 1970s that included You Can’t Name Your Own Tune (1977, Muse) and Another Time, Another Place (1978, Muse). After the mid-1980s, he was rarely seen in concert or on recordings.
ALVAREZ, CHICO (1920–1992)
After learning piano and violin, Alvarez decided to take up the trumpet while growing up in Inglewood, California. Performing as a soloist in Stan Kenton’s band, Alvarez got his first break before serving in the army from 1943 to 1946. Following his stint in the army, he played with Kenton again before moving first to Hermosa Beach and then to Las Vegas. Alvarez worked for several hotels, backing up artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan from 1958 to 1982. In 1985 he was a featured performer at the Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee and started his own group, the Las Vegas Jazz Band.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF JAZZ SOCIETIES (AFJS)
An international nonprofit organization whose focus is to manage international communication between jazz groups by sharing information, resources, and techniques. The organization was founded in 1985.
AMERICAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Founded by Roberta Swann and Gary Giddins, the American Jazz Orchestra focused on performing music from the big band repertoire. Starting with its first concert in 1986, the group performed several concerts a year with fluid personnel based on availability and often featured themed concerts or guest artists. The music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, and Dizzy Gillespie were all covered during the group’s first few years, and from 1987 to 1992 the group featured the music of living composers such as Benny Carter, Gerald Wilson, Muhal Richard Abrams, Jimmy Heath, and David Murray. The orchestra was eventually forced to shut down operations in 1993 when funding problems arose.
AMERICAN RECORD COMPANY (ARC)
Formed in 1929, ARC was produced as a result of the combination of several smaller companies. The Cameo Record Corporation, Pathe Phonograph and Radio Corporation, Plaza Music Company, and Scranton Button Company all merged to form the American Record Company. From 1929 until 1938, ARC was seen as a label that produced cheap records (often capitalizing on fallout from the Great Depression) until the label was purchased by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1938. As a result of this transaction, CBS moved many of the records that had been successful on ARC to their more popular labels, Columbia and OKeh.
AMMONS, ALBERT (1907–1949)
Considered one of the masters of the blues-based boogie-woogie style, Ammons was a successful and influential pianist from the late 1920s until his death in 1949. After moving from Chicago to New York City in the late 1930s, Ammons worked with fellow boogie-woogie pianists Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis, whom Ammons had known well in Chicago. Together they formed the Boogie Woogie Trio, performing at Carnegie Hall and regularly at the famous Café Society in New York. Ammons was known for his powerful and enigmatic piano style that can be heard in his classic recordings of “Boogie-Woogie Stomp” and “Pinetop’s Boogie-Woogie.” He continued to perform regularly and tour as an artist throughout the 1940s, despite the declining public interest in the boogie-woogie style, and performed at the inauguration of President Harry S. Truman in 1949. After his death in 1949 at the age of 32, Ammons would prove to have a great influence on an emerging generation of pianists, including the likes of Ray Bryant and Erroll Garner. Ammons is considered by most to be the king of the idiomatic boogie-woogie genre. See also AMMONS, (EU)GENE “JUG” (1925–1974).
AMMONS, (EU)GENE “JUG” (1925–1974)
Eugene “Jug” Ammons, the son of notable boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, was a tenor saxophonist and native of Chicago who was greatly influenced by saxophonists Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins. He got his start in 1943 at the ripe age of 18 when he went on the road with the King Kolax band. Soon thereafter, in 1944, he would join the noteworthy big band of vocalist Billy Eckstine and remain with that band until 1947 as a featured soloist. Ammons formed his own quintet and in 1949 replaced Stan Getz in the Woody Herman Orchestra. Additionally, Ammons joined fellow saxophonist Sonny Stitt in 1950 and worked closely playing and “battling” him for a few years. His career unfortunately did not go without hardships; Ammons was imprisoned twice on possession of narcotics charges—once from 1958 to 1960 and again from 1962 to 1969.
Ammons soon returned, however, in 1969 and came back onto the Chicago scene as vibrant as ever. Considered part of the Chicago school of tenor saxophone along with Von Freeman, Ammons was known for his recognizable full and soulful tone. Capable of burning bebop lines like the rest of the great jazz musicians on the scene, Ammons was also well known for his thoughtful and poignant ballad playing. Throughout the rest of his life, he recorded with all-star musicians including John Coltrane and Art Farmer, and he performed often with fellow saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt. Ammons, a great influence on the next generation of saxophonists (including Joshua Redman), died of bone cancer in 1974.