Sam Lazar (born 1933) was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

ist originally from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, United States.Owsley, Dennis
City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973.

: Reedy Press, 2006. . ''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

''. Retrieved September 28, 2015. A mysterious figure who disappeared from the music scene in the early 1960s,"The Sam Lazar discography."
''Crownpeller.wordpress.com.'' Retrieved January 22, 2016. he is best known for fronting a group that included early work from guitarist

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

.Green, Sharony Andrews
Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar.

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

: Miller Freeman, Inc., 1999. 8-72. .

. Retrieved July 24, 2017. Lazar's career was heavily influenced by fellow organist Jimmy Smith."'Playback': Sam Lazar Trio."
''Billboard'', September 22, 1962. 74. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved May 29, 2018.

Early career in music

Little is known about Lazar's life, with much of his biographical information coming from the liner notes of his albums.van de Linde, François
"Sam Lazar Space Flight (Argo 1960)."
''Flophousemagazine.com'', January 5, 2016. The liner notes on his first LP on

Argo Records Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 as a division of Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Ar ...

approximates his birth year as 1933. Initially a pianist, Lazar played in a group led by

Ernie Wilkins Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. (July 20, 1922 – June 5, 1999) was an American jazz saxophonist, conductor and arranger who spent several years with Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie. He was musical direc ...

until Wilkins left St. Louis to join

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

. Lazar then had a stint in George Hudson's big band, which also included

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

and

Jimmy Forrest James, Jim or Jimmy Forrest may refer to: Sports * James Forrest (rugby union) (born 1907), Scotland international rugby union player * James Forrest (baseball) (1897–1977), American baseball player * James Forrest (basketball) (born 1972), Ame ...

at various times. After a tour with

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Tab Smith Talmadge "Tab" Smith (January 11, 1909 – August 17, 1971) was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best remembered for the tracks "Because of You" and "Pretend". He worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Boys a ...

, Lazar served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1951-1953. Upon discharge, he began studying medical technology.

Transition to organ

In 1958, Lazar saw the Jimmy Smith Trio at the 'Peacock Alley' club in St. Louis and was inspired to play the

and return to music. His St. Louis-based organ combo later included drummer Chauncey Williams, guitarists

Joe Diorio Joseph Louis Diorio (August 6, 1936 – February 2, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist. He performed with Sonny Stitt, Hal Crook, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Horace Silver, Anita O'Day, and Freddie Hubbard. In recent ye ...

, George Eskridge, and saxophonist Miller Brisker among others. Lazar's group played a variety of gigs from

strip clubs Strip or Stripping may refer to: Places * Aouzou Strip, a strip of land following the northern border of Chad that had been claimed and occupied by Libya * Caprivi Strip, narrow strip of land extending from the Okavango Region of Namibia to ...

to jazz clubs, and was reportedly one of the first interracial combos in the area.

Recording career

Sam Lazar spent a week around Christmas, 1959, playing at the Holy Barbarian nightclub in St. Louis. He performed as part of a quartet with

, Chauncey Williams, and tenor saxophonist Bob Graf. Their performances at the club were recorded, but went unreleased for decades, until Uptown Records released the material as an album titled ''Grant Green: The Holy Barbarian, St. Louis 1959'', in 2012. Lazar made his first recording to be released a few months later in 1960, a single on Cawthron Records. He signed with Chicago-based Argo Records, a division of

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

in 1960, and released his first album, ''Space Flight'' later that year. Lazar made a total of three albums for Argo: ''Space Flight'', ''Playback'', and ''Soul Merchant''. ''Space Flight'' is most notable because it was recorded in 1960 with bassist

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

, along with Williams and Green."Reviews and Ratings of New Albums: 'Space Flight'
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', March 20, 1961. 30. ''

''. Retrieved December 25, 2017. Lazar's Argo releases were well received by critics. His first single on Cawthron Records, "Space Flight, Parts 1 and 2", was given a rating of four stars by

, indicating "Very Strong Sales Potential.""Sam Lazar Trio: 'Space Flight (Parts 1 and 2)."
''Billboard'', May 9, 1960. 93. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved March 18, 2018. When "Space Flight" was released as single by Argo, it was named one of the top songs just outside of the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

Pop singles."Bubbling Under the Hot 100: Sam Lazar Trio: 'Space Flight' b/w 'Dig a Little Deeper.'"
''Billboard'', June 13, 1960. 28, 48. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved March 18, 2018. Lazar's 1962 album ''Playback'' also received a 4-star rating from Billboard, noting that he played with a lot of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

in a style very similar to Jimmy Smith. The review also stated that he "had the touch to do very well for himself." Despite the positive reviews, Lazar's albums were not commercially successful.Porter, Bob. (

Liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

) to '' Oleo''. By

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 ...

. LP. 1980."Sam Lazar: Space Flight."
''Artistdirect.com.'' Retrieved January 22, 2016.Whitehead, Kevin
"Grant Green: The 'Holy Barbarian' Of St. Louis Jazz."

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 6 ...

, January 11, 2013. ''Npr.org.'' Retrieved April 7, 2017.

Discography

Singles: * "Space Flight, Part 1" // "Space Flight, Part 2" (Cawthron 507, released 1960; with guitarist

) * "Space Flight" // "Dig A Little Deeper" (Argo 5365, released 1960) * "I Ain't Mad At You" // "Camp Meetin'" (Argo 5427, released 1962; also issued as Checker 1030) * "C.C. Rider" // "High Noon" (Argo 5453, released 1963) Albums: * ''

Space Flight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either human spaceflight, with or uncrewed spaceflight, without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly w ...

'' (

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

LPS-4002, 1960) * '' Playback'' (Argo LPS-4015, 1962) * '' Soul Merchant'' (Argo LPS-717, 1963)"Sam Lazar: Album Discography."
''Allmusic.com.'' Retrieved December 2, 2016. * Grant Green: ''The Holy Barbarian, St. Louis 1959'' (Uptown UPCD-27.68, 2012)Dryden, Ken
"AllMusic Review: Grant Green: The Holy Barbarian, St. Louis, 1959."
''Allmusic.com.'' Retrieved December 2, 2016. * ''Organ Grooves: 2 Complete Albums Plus Bonus Tracks'' (

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

JASMCD-2674, 2019) reissue of Argo LPS-4002 and LPS-4015 plus both sides of Cawthron 507.

References

External links

Sam Lazar Discography, from the collection of Armin Büttner

Sam Lazar at The Hammond Jazz Inventory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Sam Jazz musicians from Missouri Musicians from St. Louis American jazz organists American male organists African-American jazz musicians Hard bop organists Soul-jazz organists Living people 1933 births 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century organists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 21st-century American keyboardists African-American pianists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Argo Records artists Uptown Records (jazz) artists