Wardell Gray born 13 February 1921

Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Gray was born in Oklahoma and he lived in the “Deep Deuce” African-American neighborhood of Oklahoma City.  His family moved to Detroit when he was nine years old.  Gray was raised and came of age in the Motor City.  In early 1935, Gray began attending Northeastern High School, he was then transferred to Cass Technical High School. He left in 1936, before graduating. Advised by his brother-in-law Junior Warren, Gray as a teenager started learning the clarinet. However, after hearing Lester Young on record with Count Basie, he was inspired to switch to the tenor saxophone.

Gray's first musical job was in Isaac Goodwin's small band, a part-time band that played local dances. When auditioning for another job, he was heard by Dorothy Patton, a young pianist who was forming a band in the Fraternal Club in Flint, Michigan, she later hired him. After a year there, he moved to Jimmy Raschel's band, and then to the Benny Carew band in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Around this time, he met Jeanne Goings; they had a daughter, Anita, born in January 1941.

Earl Hines Orch., Gray far right

Near the Congo Club was the Three Sixes. A young dancer, Jeri Walker, knew Earl Hines, and when the Hines band came through Detroit in late 1943, she persuaded Hines to hire Gray on alto saxophone since there was no tenor saxophone job at the time. This was a break for the 21-year-old, as the Earl Hines Orchestra was not only nationally known but had nurtured the careers of emerging bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Although most of them had left when Gray joined, playing with the Hines band was a stimulating experience.

                                    

He left Hines late in 1946, settling in Los Angeles, California; soon after arriving, he recorded the first session under his name. This was a quartet session for Eddie Laguna's Sunset label, and on it Wardell was supported by Dodo Marmarosa on piano. The date produced "Easy Swing" and "The Man I Love". 

Wardell and Dexter Gordon

In Los Angeles, Wardell worked with Benny Carter, blues singer Ivory Joe Hunter, and the small group that supported singer Billy Eckstine on a tour of the West Coast. But the real focus in Los Angeles was in clubs along Central Avenue  where Wardell held tenor battles with Dexter Gordon.

Their fame began to spread, and Ross Russell managed to get them to simulate one of their battles on "The Chase", which became Wardell's first nationally known recording and has been called "one of the most exciting musical contests in the history of jazz". The success of "The Chase" was the break Wardell needed, and he became increasingly prominent in public sessions in and around Los Angeles.

Wardell with Benny Goodman

During1947 Benny Goodman hired Wardell for a small group that he was setting up as part of his flirtation with bebop. The group opened at Frank Palumbo's Click Club in Philadelphia in May 1948. It was not a financial success and Goodman eventually broke it up, but by now Wardell was established on the East Coast as an up-and-coming musician. For a while in late 1948/early 1949 he worked with the Count Basie Orchestra, while also managing to record with Tadd Dameron and in quartet and quintet sessions with Al Haig. 

Wardell with Billie Holiday

When Basie broke up his big band he formed a septet which included Clark Terry and Buddy DeFranco. Wardell was part of the Basie septet during 1950–51. Due to the constant travelling, Wardell eventually decided to leave so that he could enjoy more home life. However, there are increasing signs of a lack of engagement around 1951/52, notably in a further live session with Dexter Gordon from February 1952, and it seems that he may have been becoming disillusioned with the music business.

L-R:- Billy Ecstine, Conte Candoli,
Don Lamond, Wardell Gray & Dexter Gordon

Around this time, Gray became involved with drugs; friends reported that this was taking its toll. His playing was now less fluent, and a studio session in January 1955, which was to be his last, shows strong but (by his own standards) rather unsubtle playing. Benny Carter hired him to participate in a new band which would integrate the Las Vegas casino entertainment. However, on opening night in July 1955, Wardell Gray's body was found in the Nevada desert, his neck broken.

The official report claimed that he had died of a drug overdose, although no autopsy seems to have been performed. The Nevada officials didn't seem overly concerned about the cause of death of a visiting black musician. There were rumours at the time that Wardell had been the victim of a gang-style execution over gambling debts. Also according to sax player Teddy Edwards was that a few of Carter’s band members found his body in his hotel room. They wanted no police trouble, so they put his body in a car and brought it to the desert. Even so, the mysterious circumstances of his death, subject to various innuendos are yet to be solved.    

(Edited from Wikipedia) 

Here’s a clip of Count Basie, piano; Wardell Gray, tenor sax; Buddy DeFranco, clarinet; and Clark Terry, trumpet.