Harold Vick born 3 April 1936

Harold Vick (April 3, 1936 – November 13, 1987) was one of America’s great unsung saxophonists and flautist who gained prominence in the 1960s with his bluesy blend of soul-jazz and hard bop. 

Harold Edward Vick was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. At the age of 13, he was given a clarinet by his uncle, Prince Robinson, a clarinet and tenor saxophone player who had been a member of McKinney's Cotton Pickers. Soon Harold was performing at the Annie W. Holland school and later at Booker T. Washington High School under the guidance of Mr. Charles Wood, the band director. Vick performed in the band and played sports while maintaining a high grade average. 

Vick then attended Howard University in Washington where he played with the orchestra at the Howard Theater. Majoring in psychology and sociology, Vick continued his love of music outside of school and began playing tenor sax in rhythm and blues bands. Harold's first recording was with organist Jack McDuff in 1961. His work with McDuff and other organists such as Jimmy McGriff and Big John Patton started getting recognition, and in 1963 Harold did his first album as a leader ("Steppin' Out") for Blue Note Records. 

                                   

He played with other organists such as Jimmy McGriff, Big John Patton, and Larry Young. For the rest of the 1960s, he played on and off with Walter Bishop Jr., and also worked with Philly Joe Jones, Howard McGhee and Donald Byrd. He also appeared with Dizzy Gillespie at the 1968 Newport Jazz Festival. After a 1965 performance at Carnegie Hall with Donald Byrd, Vick secured a contract for further albums as leader, and from 1966 to 1974; he had further recording sessions for the RCA, Muse, and Strata-East labels. 

Harold excelled as a "straight ahead" jazz artist, as well as on the "funky" side, where he expanded his association with organists to include Richard "Groove" Holmes, Shirley Scott, Larry Young, Johnny "Hammond" Smith and Les McCann, while continuing to work and record with guitarist Grant Green and Ray Charles. His recording discography also includes McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, Duke Pearson and many others. 

Although he did not work as a leader after the 1960s, his career as a sideman took off and he continued to work actively. In 1969 he toured Europe with the Negro Ensemble Company, the Black Experience Family Repertory. He performed with Lena Horne in “The Lady and her Music.” He composed the music for the film An Even Chance and played part of the Cotton Club.  Vick worked for around 5 years with soul artists, from 1969 to 1970 with King Curtis, and from 1970 to 1974 with Aretha Franklin. 

He played in Jack DeJohnette's jazz-rock band Compost from 1971 to 1973, recording with them in 1972, which is about the same time Vick cut The Power Of Feeling album for Bernard Purdie's short-lived Encounter label which is probably why it was issued under the pseudonym of "Sir Edward."  After a heart attack in the mid-1970s, Vick largely returned to soul jazz, working with Shirley Scott from 1974 to 1976 and with Jimmy McGriff from 1980 to 1981. At the same time he continued to work as a freelance jazz musician and session musician. As late as 1987 he performed on two Billie Holiday tribute albums by Abbey Lincoln. 

He played for a number of stage productions during the 1980s. He also played with Nat Adderley, Mercer Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Taylor, Horace Silver, and Gene Ammons. He had a career in film: he played saxophone on-screen in the films "Stardust Memories" (1981) and "Cotton Club,"(1984) appeared in the Spike Lee film "School Days"(1988)  and on the soundtracks of movies like "Fame" and "She’s Gotta Have It." 

Vick died at his Manhattan home of another heart attack on November 13, 1987. He was memorialized in the tune "Did You See Harold Vick?", which Sonny Rollins wrote and featured on his album This Is What I Do (2000). 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Twin County Hall of Fame & Jazz Lead Sheets)

Here’s a 1976 clip from live TV of Shirley Scott on Hammond Organ  with Harold Vick on tenor sax who, incidentally, also wrote this tune, "Don't Look Back".