Joe Temperley

Baritonist Joe Temperley proved ideally suited to stand in for Harry Carney whenever Duke Ellington’s orchestral works were revisited, though that prominent assignment frequently eclipsed the saxophonist’s own distinguished tone. He began on alto before switching to tenor for sessions with British ensembles directed by Harry Parry in 1949, as well as those fronted by Jack Parnell, Tony Crombie, and Tommy Whittle. From 1958 through 1965 he remained exclusively on baritone during an extended stint with Humphrey Lyttelton’s widely followed group. Temperley relocated to New York in 1965 and subsequently performed with an array of large ensembles led by Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, and Clark Terry. In 1974 he became the initial substitute for Carney in the Mercer Ellington Orchestra and thereafter collaborated with many of the music’s foremost figures, among them the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra directed by Wynton Marsalis beginning in 1990. As a leader he produced several distinguished recordings, most prominently for Scotland’s Hep imprint, including the 1999 release Double Duke issued to mark the centennial of Ellington’s birth. Temperley passed away at his Manhattan residence in May 2016 at the age of 86.