David Pell (February 26, 1925 – May 7, 2017) 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 ...

saxophonist, bandleader and record producer. He was best known for leading a

cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...

octet in the 1950s.

Biography

Pell played in his teens with the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

s of

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes referr ...

Bob Astor Bob Astor (born Robert E. Dade, October 5, 1915, New Orleans) was an American jazz and dance bandleader and songwriter, principally active in the 1940s. Astor led groups in New Orleans and east Texas before moving to the Los Angeles area at the end ...

, and

Bobby Sherwood Robert J. Sherwood Jr. (May 30, 1914 – January 23, 1981) was an American guitarist, trumpeter, bandleader, and radio host. Early years Sherwood's parents were Bob and Gail Sherwood. When they lived in Kokomo, Indiana, he operated a movie th ...

. In the 1940s he moved to California, where he played on

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

's radio show in 1946 and became a member of Les Brown's band from 1947 to 1955. In 1953, he began working with his own ensembles, mostly as an octet with Pell on tenor saxophone, another saxophone (either a baritone or an alto), trumpet, trombone, guitar, and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section). Among the octet players were

Pepper Adams Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a s ...

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

Red Mitchell Keith Moore "Red" Mitchell (September 20, 1927 – November 8, 1992) was an American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet. Biography Mitchell was born in New York City. His younger brother, Whitey Mitchell, also became a jazz ba ...

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American alto saxophonist and very occasional tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. Active in West Coast jazz, Pepper came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known ...

and, early his career,

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

. These ensembles recorded in the 1950s for

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, Kapp,

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

, and

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. Pell also worked as a sideman for

Shorty Rogers Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arran ...

Pete Rugolo Pietro "Pete" Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011) was an American jazz composer, arranger and record producer. Life and career Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settle ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

, and

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, S ...

. He produced music in the 1950s and 1960s for

Tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

Uni Uni or UNI may refer to: Entertainment *Uni Records, a division of MCA, formally called Universal City Records *"U.N.I.", a song by Ed Sheeran from ''+'' (''Plus'') *Uni, a species in the Neopets Trading Card Game *Uni, a character in the anim ...

and

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

; among his credits were singles by Gary Lewis & the Playboys. In 1961, Pell switched to alto saxophone and clarinet for a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

to John Kirby, who led a small group in the 1930s and 1940s. Pell was the recording session leader for the 1965 hit song "

No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1965 by The T-Bones and released as a single the same year. Composer The record itself lists Granville Sascha Burland as the composer, but ASCAP says the compo ...

", performed by a group of Los Angeles studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew but attributed to

The T-Bones The T-Bones were an American, Liberty Records recording group, existing from 1963 to 1966. The studio recordings of all of their albums but the last were done by American session musicians, The Wrecking Crew. They should not be confused wit ...

. In the 1970s, he assembled the group Prez Conference, a

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

tribute ensemble. In the 1980s, he returned to the octet format, and played on and off into the 1990s.

Personal life

Pell had two daughters, Sandra and Suzanne. He died on May 7, 2017, at the age of 92.

Discography

As leader

* ''Plays a Gallery of Seldom Heard Tunes by Irving Berlin'' (Trend, 1953) * ''Plays a Folio of Seldom Heard Tunes by Rodgers & Hart'' (Trend, 1954) * ''Rodgers and Hart'' (London, 1955) * ''Swingin' in the Ol' Corral'' (RCA Victor, 1957) * '' Jazz & Romantic Places'' (Atlantic, 1955) * ''Jazz Goes Dancing'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * ''Plays Burke & Van Heusen'' with Lucy Ann Polk (Kapp, 1956) * ''A Pell of a Time'' (RCA Victor, 1957) * ''The Dave Pell Octet Plays Irving Berlin'' (Kapp, 1957) * ''I Had the Craziest Dream'' (Capitol, 1957) * ''Campus Hop'' (RCA Victor, 1958) * ''Plays Harry James' Big Band Sounds'' (PRI, 1960) * ''Plays Perez Prado's Big Band Sounds'' (PRI, 1960) * ''Dave Pell Plays Duke Ellington's Big Band Sounds'' (PRI, 1960) * ''The Big Small Bands'' (Capitol, 1960) * ''The Old South Wails'' (Capitol, 1961) * ''I Remember John Kirby'' (Capitol, 1962) * '' Mah-Na-Mah-Na'' (as "The Dave Pell Singers") (Liberty, 1969) * ''Dave Pell's Prez Conference'' (GNP Crescendo, 1978) * ''Dave Pell's Prez Conference in Celebration of Lester Young'' (Pye, 1980) * ''The Dave Pell Octet Plays Again'' (Fresh Sound, 1984) * ''Live at Alfonse's'' (Headfirst, 1988) * ''Love Story'' (Atlantic, 1992)

As sideman

With Les Brown * ''You're My Everything'' (Coral, 1951) * ''Concert at the Palladium'' (Coral, 1953) * ''Let's Dance'' (Coral, 1953) * ''Invitation'' (Coral, 1954) * ''At the Palladium'' (Coral, 1955) * ''That Sound of Renown'' (Coral, 1956) * ''The Uncollected Les Brown and His Orchestra 1949 Vol. 2'' (Hindsight, 1978) With

John Graas John Graas (March 14, 1917 – April 13, 1962) was an American jazz French horn player, composer, and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz ...

* ''Jazz Lab 1'' (Decca, 1956) * ''Jazz Lab 2'' (Decca, 1957) * ''Westcoast Workshop'' (Coral, 1975) With

* ''

Music for Hi-Fi Bugs ''Music for Hi-Fi Bugs'' (also released as ''Music from Out of Space'') is an album by composer, arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo featuring performances recorded in 1956 and originally released on the EmArcy Records, EmArcy label as a 12-inch LP ...

'' (EmArcy, 1956) * ''Out On a Limb'' (EmArcy, 1957) * '' An Adventure in Sound: Reeds in Hi-Fi'' (Mercury, 1958) * ''

Rugolo Plays Kenton ''Rugolo Plays Kenton'' (subtitled ''The Pete Rugolo Orchestra Plays Compositions Introduced by Stan Kenton'') is an album by composer, arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo featuring performances of tunes associated with Stan Kenton recorded in 1958 ...

'' (Mercury, 1958) With

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Op ...

* ''A Day in the Life of Bonnie and Clyde'' (Liberty, 1968) * ''Mel Tormé's California Suite'' (Avenue Jazz, 1999) * ''Tormé'' (Verve, 2003) With others *

, ''Instrumentals Never Before On Record'' (Onward to Yesterday, 1975) *

Alexander Courage Alexander Mair Courage Jr. (December 10, 1919May 15, 2008) familiarly known as "Sandy" Courage, was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film. He is best known as the composer of the theme musi ...

, ''Hot Rod Rumble'' (Liberty, 1957) *

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

, ''The Wham of Sam'' (Reprise, 1961) *

Don Fagerquist Donald Alton Fagerquist (February 6, 1927 – January 23, 1974) was a small group, big band, and studio jazz trumpet player from the West Coast of the United States. Career Fagerquist was a featured soloist with several major bands, including M ...

, Al Viola, ''Sessions Live'' (Calliope, 1976) *

The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers accom ...

, ''Four Freshmen and Five Saxes'' (Capitol, 1957) *

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

, ''

The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet ''The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet'' is an album by American jazz composer and arranger Jimmy Giuffre featuring him exclusively on clarinet which was released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label in 1956.Jackie and Roy Jackie and Roy was an American jazz vocal team consisting of husband and wife singer Jackie Cain (1928-2014) and singer/pianist Roy Kral (1921-2002). They sang together for 56 years and made almost 40 albums. Kral's 2002 obituary in ''The New Y ...

, ''Free and Easy!'' (ABC-Paramount, 1958) *

Ronnie Lang Ronnie Lang (sometimes spelled Ronny; born July 24, 1929) is an American jazz alto saxophonist. His professional début was with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. He also played with Earle Spencer (1946), Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis (1947). Lan ...

, ''Modern Jazz'' (Tops, 1957) * Ronnie Lang,

Ray Sims Ray C. Sims (January 18, 1921, Wichita - 2000) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the brother of Zoot Sims. Sims played in territory bands in the early 1940s, then recorded with Anita O'Day and Benny Goodman shortly after the end of World ...

, Don Fagerquist, ''The Les Brown All Stars'' (Capitol, 1955) *

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

, ''Touch of Evil'' (Challenge, 1988) *

Andy Martin Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945), is an American perennial candidate who has never been elected to office, running as both a Democrat and a Republican. He has filed over 250 political lawsuits nationwide ...

, Live at Capozzoli's (Woofy, 2001) *

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

, ''Jam Session!'' (1990) *

Nicolas Peyrac Nicolas Peyrac (born 6 October 1949 in Rennes as Jean-Jacques Tazartez) is a French musician, writer and photographer. Youth Jean-Jacques spent his youth in the small town of Saint-Brice-en-Coglès in Brittany together with his brothers and par ...

, ''Elle Sortait D'Un Drole De Cafe'' (CBS, 1982) *

Leith Stevens Leith Stevens (September 13, 1909 – July 23, 1970) was an American music composer and conductor of radio and film scores. Early life and education Leith Stevens was born in Mount Moriah, Missouri,DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An ...

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

, Bill Holman, ''Jazz Themes from Private Hell'' (Coral, 1986) *

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

, ''A L'heure Du Champagne'' (La Nouvelle Génération, 1965)

References

External links

* * *
Dave Pell
interview at

NAMM The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

Oral History Program (2005)
Dave Pell recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pell, Dave 1925 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Brooklyn American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz bandleaders RCA Victor artists Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male jazz musicians 20th-century American saxophonists