Sunday, December 8, 2013

Arnett Cobb: Tough Tenor

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Images
It's shaping up to be tenor sax sort of week. After all that Charlie Ventura over the past bunch of days, I found myself in the mood for Arnett Cobb. Born in Houston, Cobb played in local bands until 1942, when he joined the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Cobb played with Hampton until 1946—a critical period during which Hampton laid track for R&B and all the excitement and showmanship that would follow.
Lionel_Hampton_and_Arnett_Cobb,_Aquarioum,_NYC,_ca._June_1946_(Gottlieb)
Cobb started his own band in 1947 but was plagued by illness starting in the early '50s. A car crash in 1956 left him permanently reliant on crutches. One can only assume that his ailment was accompanied by a fair amount of pain. None of which stopped the Wild Man of the Tenor Sax from performing and giving jazz his all. Cobb died in 1989. [Pictured above, Lionel Hampton and Arnett Cobb in the late 1940s]
Here's Cobb in Berlin playing The Nearness of You in 1982...

See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/12/arnett-cobb-tough-tenor.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.uqszYJUu.dpuf
Used with permission by Marc Myers

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