Phil Woods

Phil Woods stood out as a leading exponent of the bop idiom, forging a personal voice from the mid-1950s onward and adhering to his chosen direction across an unusually prolific career. No one questioned his standing among jazz’s foremost alto saxophonists, and he retained both drive and invention decade after decade.

An uncle bequeathed Woods his first alto saxophone, prompting serious study at age twelve. He performed and trained in local circles until relocating to New York in 1948. There he took lessons with Lennie Tristano, attended the Manhattan School of Music, and majored in clarinet at Juilliard. Early sideman engagements included Charlie Barnet in 1954, Jimmy Raney in 1955, George Wallington, the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, Buddy Rich from 1958 to 1959, Quincy Jones from 1959 to 1961, and Benny Goodman on the celebrated 1962 Soviet Union tour; yet after 1955 he most often fronted his own ensembles, among them the co-led quintet with fellow altoist Gene Quill known as “Phil & Quill.” Having married Chan, Charlie Parker’s former wife, in the 1950s and become stepfather to vocalist Kim Parker, Woods was occasionally hailed as “the new Bird” for his command of bop contexts, though his sound never amounted to mere imitation of Parker.

Throughout the 1960s he surfaced in varied situations—on Benny Carter’s landmark album Further Definitions, on tour in Europe with the brief Thelonious Monk Nonet, and on film scores such as The Hustler and Blow Up. An advocate of jazz pedagogy who nevertheless maintained that constant gigging and travel offered the finest education, he instructed at a Pennsylvania arts camp during the summers of 1964 through 1967. Finding the domestic jazz climate discouraging, he settled in France in 1968, where he directed the forward-looking European Rhythm Machine, an ensemble inclined toward avant-garde expression and featuring pianist George Gruntz. Those recordings continue to impress with their vitality, yet the project proved only a temporary departure from Woods’s bebop foundation. Returning to the United States in 1972, he attempted without success to front an electronic ensemble anchored by keyboardist Pete Robinson.

In 1973 Woods assembled a quintet comprising pianist Mike Melillo, bassist Steve Gilmore, drummer Bill Goodwin, and guitarist Harry Leahey that achieved wider recognition. Its debut album Live at the Showboat announced the group, which, following several personnel shifts, embarked on worldwide tours. After Leahey’s departure in 1978 the unit operated as the Phil Woods Quartet until trumpeter Tom Harrell’s tenure from 1983 to 1989; trombonist Hal Crook then held the chair from 1989 to 1992 before trumpeter Brian Lynch assumed it. Melillo struck out independently in 1980, succeeded at the piano by Hal Galper from 1980 to 1990, Jim McNeely from 1990 to 1995, and ultimately Bill Charlap; Gilmore and Goodwin remained from the ensemble’s inception. Far from functioning solely as repertory bebop groups, Woods’s bands cultivated original material, embraced risk, and expanded their range while preserving his straight-ahead orientation.

He supplied the well-known alto solo on Billy Joel’s hit single “Just the Way You Are” and ranked among Michel Legrand’s preferred soloists, appearing as guest on selected projects. As a leader he issued dozens of satisfying recordings beginning in the mid-1950s for Prestige, Savoy, RCA, Mode, Epic, Candid (including the acclaimed The Rights of Swing in 1961), Impulse, MGM, Verve, Embryo, Testament, Muse, Omnisound, Enja, and Chesky, while documenting his Quintet/Quartet extensively for RCA, Gryphon, Adelphi, Clean Cuts, SeaBreeze (two dates incorporating Chris Swansen’s inventive synthesizer), Red, Antilles, Palo Alto, BlackHawk, Denon, and Concord. Standout releases encompass 1960’s Rights of Swing on Candid, 1974’s Musique Du Bois on 32 Jazz, 1981’s Birds of a Feather on Antilles, and 2002’s Americans Swinging in Paris on EMI.

The Italian imprint Philogy, devoted to broadcasts and live dates by Woods’s groups, bears his name. Active well into the twenty-first century, he recorded a concert with the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra issued by Jazz Media in 2006. American Songbook, presenting his interpretations of popular and jazz standards, appeared on Kind of Blue the same year. After protracted efforts to obtain permission to adapt material by A.A. Milne, Woods released Children’s Suite, a tribute to the author’s Winnie the Pooh, in 2009. Phil Woods died from complications of emphysema in September 2015 at age eighty-three.