Billy Phipps (25 December 1931 – 3 December 2011) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

baritone saxophonist and composer who contributed to the development of a wide range of jazz styles including

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

, and primitive.

Career

Phipps was born on December 25, 1931, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

, Joe Guy,

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He work ...

and

Ike Quebec Ike Abrams Quebec (August 17, 1918 – January 16, 1963) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career in the big band era of the 1940s, then fell from prominence for a time until launching a comeback in the years before his dea ...

on a national tour. Cousin Ernie Phipps led the big band The Monarchs of Rhythm with Eugene Phipps, Sr. at the

Savoy Ballroom The Savoy Ballroom was a large ballroom for music and public dancing located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Lenox Avenue was the main thoroughfare through upper Harlem ...

along with The Sultans of Swing, Poncho Diggs, and other big bands. During the 1950s Eugene Phipps co-led the house band at Newark's legendary Washington Bar, which featured performers such as Babs Gonzales, Lew-Rew Jordan, and Ike Quebec. In the 1950s Billy Phipps along with brother Nat Phipps formed a band whose members included

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

, Grachan Moncur, Chris White, Charlie Mason, Harold Phipps and Robert Thomas. Phipps began his jazz career playing bebop on flute and baritone saxophone. As a teenager, Phipps was a regular in Newark and New York bands, once opening for

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

. In 1960 the Phipps band broke up to form the Mega Tones. Billy Phipps left the Mega Tones to tour with

Buddy Johnson Woodrow Wilson "Buddy" Johnson (January 10, 1915 – February 9, 1977) was an American jump blues pianist and bandleader active from the 1930s through the 1960s. His songs were often performed by his sister Ella Johnson, most notably " Since I ...

, Dizzy Gillespie and his Big Band, The Ray Charles Band, and "Brother" Jack McDuff. Encouraged by Wayne Shorter who introduced Phipps to

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

, Phipps began shifting to hard bop in his style. Despite a significant jazz career, the lack of Phipps's notoriety (as well as that of other black jazz performers) has been attributed to the reportage of white jazz critics.

Recording and performance

Phipps recorded baritone sax on several seminal jazz albums, including ''

Primitive Modern ''Primitive Modern'' is an album by saxophonist and composer Gil Mellé recorded in 1956 and released on the Prestige label.Gil Melle Gil or GIL may refer to: Places * Gil Island (disambiguation), one of several islands by that name * Gil, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Hil, Azerbaijan, also spelled ''Gil, a village in Azerbaijan * Hiloba, also spelled ''Gil, ...

Quartet (1956), '' Gin and Orange'' (1969) with Brother Jack McDuff, and Ocho (1972) with Chico Mendoza. Phipps performed internationally, touring Sweden, France, England, and the Netherlands with McDuff's band. Phipps was a featured performer in 2003 during the Jazz Foundation of America's Annual "Great Night In Harlem" Concert at the Apollo Theater, hosted by Bill Cosby, Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg and Branford Marsalis. Despite failing health, Phipps continued to perform live in the New York city area and to record with other notable jazz musicians. In an homage to his Newark origins, Phipps performed with the Newark Jazz Elders, whose members provided a generational bridge between 1950s bebop and contemporary jazz.

Selected discography

* ''

Quartet (LP), Prestige Records, 1956 * '' Gin and Orange'' – Jack McDuff (Album, CD), Cadet, 1969 * ''Ocho'' (LP, Album), West Side Latino Records, 1972 * ''

Joy of Cookin' ''Joy of Cookin is an album by American jazz flautist Joe Thomas recorded in 1972 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

'' – Joe Thomas (LP), Groove Merchant, 1972 * ''Tornado'' (LP), El Sonido, 1976 * ''Mamey Colora'o / Sneakin' Up Behind You'' (LP), El Sonido, 1976 * ''Sabroso!: The Afro-Latin Groove'' (LP), Rhino Records, 1998 * ''Ocho (The First Album)'' (CD, Album, RE), Universal Sound 2000 * ''The Woman in Me (CD), Laranah Phipps Flat 5 Records (USA), 2001 * ''Moon Rappin' '' (CD), Blue Note Records (USA), 2002 * ''Phipps & Friends '' (CD), Pipeline Music (USA), 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Billy American jazz baritone saxophonists Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Crossover jazz saxophonists Hard bop saxophonists 2011 deaths 1931 births 20th-century American saxophonists