Monday, October 5, 2015

Post-Bop and Avant-Garde Jazz Saxophonist Keith Gamble: A Salute To Phil Woods

Post-Bop and Avant-Garde Jazz Saxophonist Keith Gamble: A Salute To Phil Woods:      On Monday, October 5, 2015, Paul Keller`s 15 piece orchestra is performing "A Farewell Tribute To Phil Woods". This tribute i...

A Salute To Phil Woods

     On Monday, October 5, 2015, Paul Keller`s 15 piece orchestra is performing "A Farewell Tribute To Phil Woods". This tribute is for a saxophone great who has contributed so much in the world of music, and will be truly missed in the jazz community.

     Those of us in jazz were sadden to hear the passing of alto saxophone great Phil Woods, who died on September 29, 2015, at age 83, in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, due to complications from emphysema. For more than 60 years Phil Woods performed in the jazz mainstream.

     Phil Woods gave his last performance on September 4, 2015, in Pittsburgh. In his performance with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Woods performed "Charlie Parker With Strings". A reporter with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Woods struggled with emphysema, and was retiring.

     Phil Woods began saxophone with encouragement from his mother upon the death of his father who left his saxophone for Phil. Phil Woods would go on to be influenced by alto saxophonist Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges, with Phil Woods biggest influence being Charlie Parker.

     More than 50 albums to his credit as a leader, Phil Woods has also performed with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, and Clark Terry. Phil Woods has also won Grammy Awards, and voted top alto saxophonist nearly 30 times in Downbeat magazine`s readers` poll. In 2007, Phil Woods was named a National Endowment For The Arts Jazz Master.

     Join the Paul Keller Orchestra as he and his orchestra pay tribute to salute the late jazz great Phil Woods on Monday, October 5, 2015, at Zal Gaz Grotto, 2070 West Stadium Boulevard, in Ann Arbor, MI. Paul Keller and his orchestra will also be joined by alto saxophonist Doug Horn to celebrate a jazz great.