Booker Ervin

Booker Ervin stood out as a genuine original on tenor saxophone, blending a forceful and fiery sound with deeply felt phrasing that remained rooted in chord-based improvisation. Though he started on trombone, the musician picked up the tenor during his Air Force service from 1950 to 1953 and learned the instrument on his own. Following two years of formal music study in Boston, he first appeared on record in 1956 alongside Ernie Fields’ R&B ensemble. Recognition arrived through his intermittent association with Charles Mingus from 1956 to 1962, where he matched the intensity of the combative bassist as well as Eric Dolphy. Ervin also fronted his own quartet, collaborated sporadically with Randy Weston throughout the sixties, and lived in Europe for much of 1964–1966 prior to his premature death from kidney disease. Several landmark Charles Mingus albums feature his contributions, while his own sessions appeared on Bethlehem, Savoy, and Candid in 1960–1961 and later on Pacific Jazz and Blue Note. The nine Prestige dates he cut between 1963 and 1966, among them The Freedom Book, The Song Book, The Blues Book, and The Space Book, represent some of the strongest work of his career.