Biography
Born Wilton Gaynair on 11 January 1927 in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, the saxophonist died on 13 February 1995 in Germany. His initial professional work took place on tenor saxophone inside Jamaican ensembles during the years before he left the island. By the middle of the 1950s he had relocated to Europe, where jazz became his primary focus. Appearances alongside Dizzy Reece occurred in London, after which he settled permanently in Germany; there he deepened his command of music by studying composition and arranging while working regularly with leading local players and with touring jazz figures from both the United States and Britain. Membership in Kurt Edelhagen’s orchestra was shared with Ellsworth ‘Shake’ Keane, and Gaynair also helped establish the group Third Eye, whose personnel included Kenny Wheeler and Alan Skidmore.
Hard-bop fluency marked his improvisational style, allowing him to remain active on the bandstand until the early 1980s, when a stroke suffered during a 1983 engagement with Peter Herbolzheimer ended his performing career. Although international recognition stayed modest, a loyal circle of critical supporters formed over the decades, among them the writer Val Wilmer. Tone and phrasing combined a robust, full-throated projection with an underlying melodic sensibility; any passing resemblances to John Coltrane remained secondary to Gaynair’s own conception of the music.
Hard-bop fluency marked his improvisational style, allowing him to remain active on the bandstand until the early 1980s, when a stroke suffered during a 1983 engagement with Peter Herbolzheimer ended his performing career. Although international recognition stayed modest, a loyal circle of critical supporters formed over the decades, among them the writer Val Wilmer. Tone and phrasing combined a robust, full-throated projection with an underlying melodic sensibility; any passing resemblances to John Coltrane remained secondary to Gaynair’s own conception of the music.