Anthony Robert "Tony" Ortega (June 7, 1928 – October 30, 2022) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and flautist.

Early life

Ortega was born in Los Angeles. He began to play the saxophone at age 14 and studied the instrument under Lloyd Reese.Anthony Ortega: Encinitas reedman calls himself a ‘lucky man’
'' The Coast News'', April 5, 2012. He was heavily-influenced by and introduced to musicians by his cousin, Ray Vasquez.

Career

In 1947, Ortega played with Earle Spencer. From 1948 to 1951, he served in the United States Army. He became a member of

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

's group, which toured Europe; while there he also recorded with Gigi Gryce,

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...

, and Milt Buckner, as well as with Norwegian players while in Oslo in 1954. He also met his future wife, pianist and vibraphonist Mona Ørbeck, at the Penguin jazz club in Oslo; they married later that year. Upon his return to southern California, he put a band together and worked briefly in Los Angeles, but relocated to New York City in 1955, playing with

Nat Pierce Nathaniel Pierce Blish Jr., known professionally as Nat Pierce (July 16, 1925 – June 10, 1992) was an American jazz pianist and prolific composer and arranger, perhaps best known for being pianist and arranger for the Woody Herman band from 195 ...

for two years. In 1958, he returned to Los Angeles, where he worked with Paul Bley,

Claude Williamson Claude Berkeley Williamson (November 18, 1926 – July 16, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. Williamson was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, United States. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music before moving to jazz, influenced m ...

, and the Lighthouse All Stars. In the 1960s, he played mostly in the Southwest and California, and worked on film soundtracks such as '' The Pawnbroker'' (1964). Ortega recorded the soundtrack for the movie ''

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

'' (1980) starring Gena Rowlands. He can be heard playing throughout the movie with Tommy Tedesco on guitar. He worked with Don Ellis and Gerald Wilson in 1965 and 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 ...

in 1968. In the early-1970s, he toured internationally with Quincy Jones and continued working with Wilson into the 1980s. He toured and recorded in Paris several times in the 1990s. As of October 2021, he was still performing actively at Mr. Peabody's in Encinitas, California.

Discography

*''A Man and His Horns'' (1956) *''Chamber Music for Moderns'' with the

Quintet ( Coral, 1957) *''Jazz for Young Moderns (And Old Buzzards, Too)'' ( Bethlehem, 1958?) *''New Dance'' ( Revelation, 1967) *''Permutations'' (Revelation, 1968) *''A Delanto'' (Jazz Chronicles, 1976) *''Rain Dance'' ( Discovery, 1978) *''On Evidence'' (

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

, 1992) *''Neuf'' (Evidence, 1996) *''Bonjour'' ( Harmonia Mundi, 2001) *''Scattered Clouds'' ( hatOLOGY, 2001) *''Afternoon in Paris'' (hatOLOGY, 2007)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortega, Anthony 1928 births 2022 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz flautists American jazz clarinetists Musicians from Los Angeles 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from California 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 21st-century flautists