Bunky Green long cultivated a singular approach to the saxophone, yet the bulk of his catalog has fallen out of circulation because his primary focus remained teaching, a commitment that once included serving as president of the International Association of Jazz Educators. Following local engagements, he joined Charles Mingus for a brief period in 1960. The same year he relocated to Chicago and worked there alongside Ira Sullivan, Andrew Hill, Louie Bellson, Yusef Lateef, and Sonny Stitt. Although Charlie Parker had been his earliest and most powerful model, Green later devoted time to introspection and technical study, ultimately arriving at a far more personal voice. His discography includes sessions for Exodus in 1960 and for Argo between 1964 and 1966, but the strongest statements appear on his Vanguard dates from the mid- and late 1970s together with a 1989 date for Delos. Identifying himself as an “inside/outside” improviser, Bunky Green shaped the vocabulary of both Steve Coleman and Greg Osby.
