Though his deepest passion stayed with jazz, tenor saxophonist Sil Austin explored an array of styles across his extended professional life, among them R&B, jump blues, country, pop, and, on a single occasion, disco-inflected funk. Born Silvester Austin in Dunnellon, Florida, on September 17, 1929, he took up the instrument near the age of twelve under the influence of swing masters Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. While still in his teens he relocated to New York, where in 1946 he captured first prize at an Apollo Theater talent contest performing “Danny Boy.” His most significant early opportunities arrived in 1949, first when he joined Roy Eldridge and shortly afterward when he entered Cootie Williams’ Birdland house band, remaining there for three years. Following stints in 1953 and 1954 alongside Tiny Bradshaw—who assisted in composing the piece that Ella Fitzgerald later transformed into Austin’s nickname, “Ping Pong”—he launched a solo career and signed with Mercury. There he achieved his greatest commercial success with the 1956 release “Slow Walk,” which reached the Top Five on the R&B chart and the Top Twenty on the pop side. Another strong seller, “Birthday Party,” followed, and in 1959 Austin issued his best-known and most divisive long-player, Sil Austin Plays Pretty for the People. That album yielded a modest hit with his reprise of “Danny Boy,” yet drew sharp criticism from jazz traditionalists for its lush orchestral arrangements. He stayed with Mercury for twelve years before moving to Atlanta in 1973, after which he continued to record sporadically for independent labels into the mid-1990s. On September 1, 2001, Austin succumbed to prostate cancer following a four-year struggle.
