William Root (March 6, 1934 – July 30, 2013) 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 major ...

tenor and baritone saxophonist.

Early life

Root was raised in a musical family; his father played drums in Philadelphia ensembles.

Career

Root began playing professionally in the early 1950s, with

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from t ...

Hal McIntyre Hal McIntyre (born Harold William McIntyre; November 29, 1914, Cromwell, Connecticut – May 5, 1959 Los Angeles, California) was an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. McIntyre played extensively as a teenager and led his ow ...

Red Rodney Robert Roland Chudnick (September 27, 1927 – May 27, 1994), known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940 ...

Bennie Green Bennie Green (April 16, 1923 – March 23, 1977) was an American jazz trombonist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and ...

, and

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York ...

. Later in the decade he worked extensively with

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

Hank Mobley Henry "Hank" Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to descr ...

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

, and

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

. As a member of a Philadelphia-based sextet, Root's live recordings with trumpeter

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", an ...

ultimately became the second half of Brown's album '' The Beginning and the End''. He led his own ensembles from the late 1950s. In the 1960s he performed with

Al Grey Al Grey (June 6, 1925 – March 24, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist who was a member of the Count Basie orchestra. He was known for his plunger mute technique and wrote an instructional book in 1987 called ''Plunger Techniques''. Care ...

and

Dakota Staton Dakota Staton (June 3, 1930 – April 10, 2007) was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit "The Late, Late Show". She was also known by the Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion to ...

, and in 1968 settled in Las Vegas, where he played live in casinos for the next two decades. He recorded one album as leader, ''Live at Capozzoli's'' with trumpeter Vinnie Tanno, in 1999. Critic Steve Leowy noted that, " ether lobbing shells or just playing it straight, Root and Tanno show the vibrancy and verve reminiscent of an earlier, innocent era, when joyous passion permeated every note."

Discography

, '' The Beginning and the End'' (Columbia, 1973) *

, ''Dizzy in Greece'' (Verve, 1957) * Dizzy Gillespie, ''Birk's Works'' (Verve, 1958) *

, ''

Soul Stirrin' ''Soul Stirrin'' is an album by American trombonist Bennie Green, recorded in 1958 and released on the Blue Note label.Al Grey Al Grey (June 6, 1925 – March 24, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist who was a member of the Count Basie orchestra. He was known for his plunger mute technique and wrote an instructional book in 1987 called ''Plunger Techniques''. Care ...

, ''Dizzy Atmosphere'' (Speciality, 1957) *

, ''Cuban Fire!'' (Capitol, 1956) * Stan Kenton, ''Kenton Live from the Las Vegas Tropicana'' (Capitol, 1961) *

, ''Monday Night at Birdland'' (Roulette, 1959) * Hank Mobley, ''Another Monday Night at Birdland'' (Roulette, 1959) *

, ''

Red Rodney Returns ''Red Rodney Returns'' is an album by trumpeter Red Rodney which was recorded in 1959 and released on the Argo label.Edwards. D. & Callahan, MArgo Album Discography, Part 1: Jazz Series (1956-1965) accessed May 8, 2018 Track listing ''All compo ...

'' (Argo, 1959) *

Jack Sheldon Beryl Cyril Sheldon Jr. (November 30, 1931 – December 27, 2019), known professionally as Jack Sheldon, was an American singer, musician, and actor. He performed on ''The Merv Griffin Show'' and participated in episodes of the educational music ...

, ''Jack's Groove'' (GNP, 1961)

References

American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from Philadelphia Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-saxophonist-stub