Buddy Tate

One of swing’s more singular tenor saxophonists, the distinctive Buddy Tate first drew widespread notice when he stepped into Herschel Evans’ chair in Count Basie’s Orchestra. Before that breakthrough he had already sharpened his skills with Terrence Holder from 1930 to 1933, Count Basie’s first Kansas City ensemble in 1934, Andy Kirk between 1934 and 1935, and Nat Towles from 1935 to 1939. Returning to Basie for a second stint that lasted from 1939 to 1948, Tate matched the caliber of such formidable tenors as Lester Young, Don Byas, Illinois Jacquet, Lucky Thompson, and Paul Gonsalves. Following a stretch of freelance work alongside Hot Lips Page, Lucky Millinder, and Jimmy Rushing between 1950 and 1952, he anchored his own popular ensemble for twenty-one years, from 1953 to 1974, at Harlem’s Celebrity Club. Throughout those decades Tate also recorded in numerous contexts, among them sessions with Buck Clayton and Milt Buckner, and he figured prominently in John Hammond’s 1967 Spirituals to Swing concert. Once the Celebrity Club engagement concluded, he remained active, cutting many more dates, co-leading a group with Paul Quinichette in 1975, working and recording in Canada with Jay McShann and Jim Galloway, traveling repeatedly to Europe, and appearing at jazz parties; he likewise became a favored sideman for Benny Goodman during the late 1970s. Though advancing years had begun to slow him, Tate continued to perform and record in the mid-1990s with both Lionel Hampton and the Statesmen of Jazz. He remained in New York until January 2001, when he relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, to reside with his daughter; a few weeks afterward, on February 10, he passed away.