Percy France (August 15, 1928 – January 4, 1992) 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 saxophonist. France gained particular recognition during the 1950s and early 1960s as a sideman for Jimmy Smith,

Freddie Roach Frederick Steven Roach (born March 5, 1960) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Roach is widely regarded as one of the best boxing trainers of all time. He is the enduring boxing coach of the eight-division world champio ...

and Bill Doggett and was considered by his contemporary,

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

, as "one of the tenor players that I had to compete with when I was making my reputation as a young saxophonist. He was probably the best player around at that time; I never could beat him."

Biography

Percy France was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, living in the prominent black communities of San Juan Hill and Sugar Hill, and attended Benjamin Franklin High School alongside

. France studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

from an early age. Demonstrating particular aptitude as a

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

player, France moved on to

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

at the age of 13. Though France's recording career began in 1949 as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

for singer Betty Mays, it was not until 1952 that he became a distinctive saxophone addition to Bill Doggett's organ group. The Bill Doggett group was among the most popular R&B acts of the era but it was also a vehicle for interpretations of popular jazz standards and ballads. Reflecting on his time performing with France in 1992, Doggett praised his "unique ability to be able to build a solo. He would start off simply... and pick you up and carry you with him with his solos, as a singer would do, just lift you, and you don't know what's happening to you, but you're enjoying it." After leaving Bill Doggett's group France began a brief association with

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...

, featuring on sessions including Jimmy Smith's '' Home Cookin''' album and '' Down to Earth'' by

. France also performed with Sir Charles Thompson and appeared on Thompson's ''And The Swing Organ'' album. France's career tapered off in the 1960s but he returned to active performing in his native New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, performing at The

West End Bar West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

and other clubs as leader of his own groups and with others including Sammy Price's Two-Tenor Boogie,

Joe Albany Joe Albany (born Joseph Albani; January 24, 1924 – January 12, 1988) was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings. Life and career Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, ...

's New Yorkers and

Jo Jones Jonathan David Samuel Jones (October 7, 1911 – September 3, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. A band leader and pioneer in jazz percussion, Jones anchored the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948. He was sometimes k ...

and Friends. France toured Europe in the winter of 1982 and 1983 with the Oliver Jackson Trio, and the group recorded an album for the French Black & Blue label in September 1982. France replaced

Buddy Tate George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, United States, and first played the alto saxophone. According to the website All Ab ...

in Sammy Price's Two-Tenor Boogie in 1982 and stayed with Price thru April 1990, when a performance was broadcast by WKCR-FM. In 1987 the group performed at the Bern Jazz Festival. In 1988, at the recommendation of jazz disc jockey and historian

Phil Schaap Philip van Noorden Schaap (April 8, 1951September 7, 2021) was an American radio host, who specialized in jazz as a broadcaster, historian, archivist, and producer. He began presenting jazz shows on Columbia University's WKCR in 1970, and hoste ...

, France was hired by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

to improvise saxophone interludes for a series of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer books-on-tape which were narrated by Stacy Keach. France stopped performing in New York City in 1990 after receiving a cancer diagnosis. France was fatally struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian in 1992 and died at the age of 63.

Discography

As leader

* ''I Should Care'' (Endgame Records, 2000)

As sideman

with Betti Mays And Her Swingtet * ''Mays' Haze / Slow Rock'' (Regal Records, 1949) with The "5" Royales * '' Dedicated to You'' (King Records, 1957) with Bill Doggett * ''

Dance Awhile with Doggett ''Dance Awhile with Doggett'' is an album by American organist Bill Doggett released by the King label in 1958.el. 1991 with Sir Charles Thompson * ''Sir Charles Thompson and The Swing Organ'' (Columbia, 1959

el. 1960 EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

with Jimmy Smith * '' Home Cookin''' (Blue Note, 1959

el. 1961 EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

with

* '' Down to Earth'' (Blue Note, 1962) with Oliver Jackson * ''Oliver Jackson Presents Le Quartet'' (Black & Blue, 1982

el. 1983 EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

with

Lance Hayward Lancelot Henry Stuart Hayward (17 June 1916 – 9 November 1991Stuart Hayward, "Lance Hayward - 'An Impressionable, Energetic Musician'", in Dale Butler, ''Triumph of the Spirit: The Heroes & Heroines of Bermuda'', Part 1, Second Edition, The Writ ...

* ''Live at Eddie Condon's'' (Town Crier Recordings, 1984) * ''That's All!'' (Town Crier Recordings, 1984) * ''A Closer Walk'' (Town Crier Recordings, 1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France, Percy 1928 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists American jazz tenor saxophonists American male jazz musicians American male saxophonists Blue Note Records artists Hard bop saxophonists Musicians from Manhattan Jazz musicians from New York City Road incident deaths in New York City Soul-jazz saxophonists