Theodore Malcolm "Ted" Nash (October 31, 1922 – May 12, 2011) was a

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 ...

musician who played saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He was a session musician in Hollywood studios. His brother was trombonist

Dick Nash Richard Taylor Nash (born January 26, 1928) is an American jazz trombonist most associated with the swing and big band genres. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and began playing brass instruments at ten. He became more interested in this a ...

and his nephew is saxophonist Ted Nash, who is a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

Early life and career

Nash was born in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts. His goal was to become a classical flutist until he began playing saxophone in his early teens. His professional career began when he went on the road with a succession of dance bands. In 1944, he became tenor saxophonist for the Les Brown big band. With Brown he played on the number one hits " Sentimental Journey" and "

My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" is a 1945 popular song. The music was written by Vic Mizzy and the lyrics by Manny Curtis. The song was published in 1944 and was introduced in the 1944 film ''In Society'' by Marion Hutton. Notable re ...

", both sung by

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

Hollywood studios

In the late 1940s, after getting married, Nash settled in the Los Angeles and became active as a session musician in the Hollywood movie and television studios. In 1956, he recorded with

Paul Weston Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the F ...

's orchestra the album '' Day by Day'', with vocals by his former colleague and close friend,

. He was the featured soloist on ''

The Music from Peter Gunn ''The Music from Peter Gunn'' is a soundtrack album to the TV series ''Peter Gunn'', composed and conducted by Henry Mancini, and released in 1959 on RCA Victor. It was the first album ever to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1959. ...

'' soundtrack, performing the alto saxophone solo on the theme and on the second bridge of "Dreamsville". He was known for his mastery of the extreme

altissimo Altissimo (Italian for ''very high'') is the uppermost register on woodwind instruments. For clarinets, which overblow on odd harmonics, the altissimo notes are those based on the fifth, seventh, and higher harmonics. For other woodwinds, the alt ...

register of the saxophone. He wrote ''Ted Nash's Studies in High Harmonics for Tenor and Alto Saxophone'' published in 1946.Foreword to ''Ted Nash's Studies in High Harmonics'', Leeds Music Corporation, 1946 Through the 1950s and 1960s, he worked as a sideman for

June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a sol ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, and Nancy Wilson. During the 1970s, he worked with

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

and

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 ...

. He retired in the 1980s.

Discography

As leader

* ''The Brothers Nash'' (

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 ...

, 1955) * ''Star Eyes, The Artistry of Ted Nash'' ( Columbia, 1956) * ''

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...

'' (Crown, 1959)

As sideman

With

Georgie Auld Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. Early years Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. Before the family left Canada, Au ...

*''

In the Land of Hi-Fi with Georgie Auld and His Orchestra ''In the Land of Hi-Fi with Georgie Auld and His Orchestra'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist and bandleader Georgie Auld featuring tracks recorded in 1955 and released on the EmArcy label.EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...

, 1955) With

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

* ''

Sweet Smell of Success ''Sweet Smell of Success'' is a 1957 American film noir drama film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, and written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, and Mackendrick from t ...

'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

, 1957) * ''Paris Swings'' (

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 ...

, 1960) With

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 ...

* ''

'' (

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 ...

, 1959) * ''More Music from Peter Gunn'' (RCA Victor, 1959) * ''The Mancini Touch'' (RCA Victor, 1960) * ''

The Blues and the Beat ''The Blues and the Beat'' is an album by Henry Mancini that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance in 1961. Track listing Personnel * Dick Nash, Jimmy Priddy, John Halliburton, Karl De Karske – trombone * Conrad Gozzo ...

'' (RCA Victor, 1960) * ''Music from Mr. Lucky'' (RCA Victor, 1960) * ''Combo!'' (RCA Victor, 1961) * ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (RCA Victor, 1961) * ''Hatari!'' (RCA Victor, 1962) * ''Our Man in Hollywood'' (RCA Victor, 1963) * ''Uniquely Mancini'' (RCA Victor, 1963) * ''Mancini '67'' (RCA Victor, 1967) With

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 ...

* ''

Behind Brigitte Bardot ''Behind Brigitte Bardot'' (subtitled ''Cool Sounds from Her Hot Scenes'') is an album by composer, arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo featuring performances of tunes associated with the films of Brigitte Bardot, and other French films, recorded ...

'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, 1960) With

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...

* ''Che!'' (Tetragrammaton, 1969)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, Ted American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists 1922 births 2011 deaths American male jazz musicians 20th-century American saxophonists