Al Sears
Albert Omega Sears (February 21, 1910 – March 23, 1990)[1] was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader, sometimes credited as Big Al Sears.
Al Sears | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Al Sears (left) with Johnny Hodges, 1946 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert Omega Sears |
| Born | February 21, 1910 Macomb, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 1990 (aged 80) New York City |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Saxophone |
Sears was born in Macomb, Illinois. His first major gig came in 1928 when he replaced Johnny Hodges in Chick Webb's ensemble. Following this he played with Elmer Snowden (1931–32), then led his own groups between 1933 and 1941. In the early 1940s he was with Andy Kirk (1941–42) and Lionel Hampton (1943-44) before he became a member of Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1944, replacing Ben Webster. He became one of Ellington's best-known soloists and remained in his employ until 1949, when first Jimmy Forrest and then Paul Gonsalves took over his chair. He played with Johnny Hodges in 1951–52 and recorded the tune "Castle Rock" with him; the tune became a hit but was released under Hodges's name.
Sears was in Alan Freed's band when Freed did live shows, being introduced as "Big Al Sears." He played as a studio musician on a variety of R&B albums in the 1950s and recorded two albums for Swingville Records in 1960. He also owned several record labels, including Arock, Serock, and Gator.[1]
In 1990 he died in St. Albans, New York, at the age of 80.[1]
Discography
As leader
- Grade A Dance Music with a Swing Beat (Audio Lab, 1960)
- Swing's the Thing (Prestige, 1960)
- Rockin' in Rhythm with Taft Jordan and Hilton Jefferson as the Swingville All-Stars (Prestige, 1960)
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Swingville, 1961)
As sideman
- Mildred Anderson, No More in Life (Prestige, 1961)
- Aretha Franklin, Aretha (Columbia, 1961)
- Coleman Hawkins, Years Ago (Prestige, 1964)
- Al Hibbler, After the Lights Go Down Low (Atlantic 1957)
- Johnny Hodges, Castle Rock (Norgran, 1955)
- Johnny Hodges, In a Tender Mood
- Budd Johnson, Blues a la Mode (Felsted, 1958)
- Jimmy Witherspoon, Goin' to Kansas City Blues (RCA Victor, 1958)
References
- Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues – A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 135. ISBN 978-0313344237.
- Scott Yanow, Al Sears at Allmusic
- Scott DeVeaux and Barry Kernfeld. "Sears, Al." The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.
