James Spaulding

James Spaulding stands out as an exceptional alto saxophonist and flutist capable of moving fluidly between bop, hard bop, and bold exploratory improvisations. His widest acclaim arrived through membership in Freddie Hubbard’s quintet during the mid-1960s. Following studies at the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music, he performed and recorded regularly with Sun Ra from 1957 to 1961. Throughout the 1960s Spaulding also collaborated with Max Roach and Randy Weston, yet remained in steady demand from Hubbard as well as for Blue Note dates led by Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Turrentine, Larry Young, and others. In the ensuing decades he worked with an array of leading artists that included Charles Tolliver, Bobby Hutcherson, David Murray, and, briefly, the World Saxophone Quartet, though he continues to be vastly underrated. As a leader he released a Duke Ellington tribute set on Storyville in 1976 and several sessions for Muse between 1988 and 1993.