Jack_Nimitz

Jack Nimitz

Jack Nimitz

American jazz saxophonist (1930–2009)


Jack Nimitz (January 11, 1930 June 10, 2009) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist, nicknamed "The Admiral".[1]

Quick Facts Birth name, Born ...

Career

A native of Washington, D.C., Nimitz started on clarinet in his early teens before playing alto saxophone.[1][2] During the 1950s he played baritone saxophone with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and Herbie Mann.[1] He continued to play in big bands in the 1960s with Terry Gibbs and Gerald Wilson in addition to working in film and leading a quintet.[1]

Nimitz was a founding member of Supersax in the early 1970s and remained with the band into the 1990s.[1] During the 1980s and 1990s he was a member of big bands led by Oliver Nelson and Bill Berry.[1] He performed in the sextet of Frank Strazzeri and the sextet of Bud Shank in the 1990s.[1] In 1997 he worked with Buddy Childers at the PizzaExpress Jazz Club in London.[1]

A studio musician for much of his life, Nimitz recorded his first album as leader in the 1990s.[1][2]

Death

The Jack Nimitz Quintet played its final performance on May 10, 2009, in Northridge, California. Nimitz died in Los Angeles at the age of 79 from complications due to emphysema.[3]

Discography

As leader

  • Live at the Royal Palms Inn Volume 8 with Buddy Childers (Woofy, 1994)
  • Confirmation (Fresh Sound, 1995)
  • Live at Capozzoli's (Woofy Productions, 1997)

As sideman

With Terry Gibbs

  • The Exciting Terry Gibbs Big Band (Verve, 1961)
  • Explosion! (Mercury, 1962)
  • Flying Home (Volume 3) (Contemporary, 1988)
  • The Big Cat (Volume 5) (Contemporary, 1991)

With Woody Herman

  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 1 (Capitol, 1954)
  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 3 (Capitol, 1954)
  • Road Band! (Capitol, 1955)
  • The Woody Herman Band! (Capitol, 1955)
  • Woody Herman (Metro, 1965)

With Stan Kenton

With Steuart Liebig

  • No Train (Cadence, 1997)
  • Antipodes (Cadence, 2000)

With Shelly Manne

With Oliver Nelson

With Lalo Schifrin

With Diane Schuur

  • Timeless (GRP, 1986)
  • Pure Schuur (GRP, 1991)
  • In Tribute (GRP, 1992)

With Bud Shank

With Supersax

  • Supersax Plays Bird (Capitol, 1973)
  • Salt Peanuts Supersax Plays Bird, Volume 2 (Capitol, 1974)
  • Supersax Plays Bird with Strings (Capitol, 1975)
  • Chasin' the Bird (MPS, 1977)
  • Dynamite !! (MPS, 1979)
  • Supersax & L.A. Voices Volume 2 (CBS, 1984)
  • Stone Bird (Columbia, 1988)

With Gerald Wilson

With others


References

  1. Koch, Lawrence; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 3 (2 ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 156. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  2. Yanow, Scott. "Jack Nimitz". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  3. Ricci, Michael (16 June 2009). "Jack Nimitz Baritone Sax Player Dies". All About Jazz. Retrieved 28 November 2017.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Jack_Nimitz, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.