Floyd Standifer (1929–2007) was an American jazz musician who helped establish the jazz music scene in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. He played tenor saxophone and trumpet, sang, and was bandleader of the Floyd Standifer Quartet. He was born in Wilmington, North Carolina on January 3, 1929. He died in Seattle, Washington, on January 22, 2007, at Virginia Mason Hospital. Standifer was 78 years of age at the time of his death.
Born in 1929, Standifer moved to Oregon in 1936 with his parents. His father was an
African Methodist Episcopal Zion
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
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preacher and his mother a schoolteacher. Standifer had four siblings and lived on a farm near Gresham, Oregon. He played the tuba in high school and taught himself to play saxophone and trumpet. In 1937, he played drums for a
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
band in Portland.
In 1946, when his father was transferred to a church in Seattle, Standifer enrolled at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
to study physics. His academic career did not last long. He began playing jazz with other young musicians, including
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
and
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, as well as singer
Ernestine Anderson
Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, ...
and bassist
Buddy Catlett
George James Catlett (May 13, 1933 – November 12, 2014), known professionally as Buddy Catlett, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as a bassist.
Career
Catlett was born in Long Beach, California, and raise ...
, who played with the
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 195 ...
.
In 1959, he joined a big band tour of Europe, organized by Jones and featuring Catlett and pianist
Patti Bown
Patti Bown (July 26, 1931, Seattle, Washington – March 21, 2008, Media, Pennsylvania) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and singer.
Early life and career
Bown was born in Seattle, the daughter of Augustus Bown and Edith Ruth Cahill Bro ...
, also from Seattle. He played at and composed a jazz liturgy, "Postlude," for the
Seattle world's fair
The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States. The city of Seattle proclaimed May 9, 1996 and October 20, 2000 "Floyd Standifer Day." He was honored by two Mayors for his musical accomplishments and contributions to the city. Mayor Paul Schell honored him at Earshot Jazz Festival.
Standifer was also a teacher. He taught at
Cornish College of the Arts
Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914.
History
Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of pi ...
, the University of Washington,
Olympic College
Olympic College is a public community college in Bremerton, Washington. It opened as Olympic Junior College on September 5, 1946. Olympic College serves Kitsap and Mason counties in Washington. The college's service area contains two major nav ...
Fort San, Saskatchewan
Fort San ( 2016 population: ) is a resort village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 6. It is on the shores of Echo Lake of the Fishing Lakes in the Rural Municipality of North Qu'Appelle No. 187. It is west ...
in the early 1980s. He also spoke to and performed for thousands of local students as part of Earshot's "Roots of Jazz" series.
He died in Seattle, Washington, in 2007.