Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer.
Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up the alto and tenor saxophones, and at the age of 19 played the tenor saxophone in a Dixieland group with Toots Thielemans. In 1954 he started playing flute and after studying chemistry at university he turned to music as a profession.
He worked with his own group the Bob Shots (recording 1947-1951) and with Henri Renaud (recording in 1951 and 1953) and Sasha Distel. He also performed with visiting Americans, including Jimmy Raney (1952), Chet Baker(1955), and Blossom Dearie (1956) whom he married., but divorced in 1957.
Shortly after his arrival in New York in 1956, he became a member of J.J. Johnson’s quintet, which also included Elvin Jones. Jaspar left Johnson in 1957 and played briefly with Miles Davis. The following year he joined Donald Byrd’s quintet and from 1959 he worked as a freelance, mainly in New York, with Bill Evans, Raney, Chris Connor, the International Jazz Quartet, and others.
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| Bobby with Blossom Dearie |
In 1961/1962, Jaspar returned to Europe for a year for a series of concerts and a number of recordings, and formed a successful quintet with Belgian guitarist René Thomas. In some sessions, this was expanded to a powerful sextet with American trumpeter Chet Baker. One of those sessions, recorded in 1962, was released on record as Chet Is Back!
Jaspar was considered one of the most talented European jazz musicians. His playing was influenced by Don Byas, Lester Young and Sony Rollins, but, as his recordings demonstrate, he developed his own expressive style, which led to his being highly respected by American musicians and critics alike.
Bobby Jaspar died from a heart attack in New York City, on 28 February 1963 at age 37. He was one of the many great talents in the music who left us far too early and before his full potential could be competed.
