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Lew Tabackin
Lew Tabackin flutist and tenor saxophonist, is an artist of astonishing vision. His electrifying flute playing is at once virtuosic, primordial, cross-cultural, and passionate. His distinctive tenor sax style includes the use of wide intervals, abrupt changes of mood and tempo, and purposeful fervor, all in the service of showing the full range of possibilities of his instrument - melodically, rhythmically, and dynamically. Without copying or emulating jazz greats of the past, Lew Tabackin has absorbed elements into his style, ultimately creating his own sound and aura.
His interest in music began in his birthplace, Philadelphia, where he first studied flute and then tenor saxophone in high school. He majored in flute at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (B.M. 1962) and studied privately with composer Vincent Persichetti. After his U.S. Army service (1962-65), Mr. Tabackin moved to New Jersey and then to New York, where he played first with Tal Farlow and Don Friedman and later in the big bands led by Cab Calloway, Les and Larry Elgart, Maynard Ferguson, Joe Henderson, Chuck Israels, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Clark Terry, and Duke Pearson.
During the late 1960's, Tabackin led a trio at a club called La Boheme in Philadelphia, in addition to playing in smaller groups with Donald Byrd, Roland Hanna, Elvin Jones, and Attila Zoller. In those early years he worked with Doc Severinsen and the studio band for Dick Cavett's television show. He also spent some time in Europe, where he was a soloist with various orchestras, including the Danish Radio Orchestra and the Hamburg Jazz Workshop.
In 1968 he met Toshiko Akiyoshi when the two played together in a quartet. They eventually married and moved to Los Angeles, where they formed the award-winning big band known as the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. While in Los Angeles, Mr. Tabackin also played with Shelley Manne and with various trios of his own with Billy Higgins, John Heard, and Charlie Haden. He also toured Japan frequently with Ms. Akiyoshi and her orchestra as well as with his own trio, which included drummer Joey Baron and bassist Michael Moore.
During the 1980's he began to get some long overdue recognition as a flutist, winning many Down Beat critic's and reader's polls. In 1982 Mr. Tabackin and Ms. Akiyoshi moved to New York, which brought him back to the Manhattan jazz scene. Since then he has solidified his position as a major tenor saxophone and flute artist, both in live concerts and on recordings.
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Lew Tabackin: On Becoming and Barolo
by Kristen Lee Sergeant
"You looking for Lew?" a waiter standing outside Gennaro, a homey Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side, asks as I scan the outdoor dining area for a sign of my interview subject for the evening. “He's inside." They definitely know him here. Ushered into the dining room, the staff graciously points me towards a table in the back, where Lew Tabackin, comfortably ensconced at a corner table with a promising bottle from his cellar, is ready for ...
read moreLew Tabackin: A Life in Jazz
by Rob Rosenblum
Tenor saxophonist and flutist Lew Tabackin is known as a forceful and dynamic soloist, both in small group and big band settings. His views of the jazz music scene, both past and present, are equally compelling. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend several hours with Mr. Tabackin for this interview. Rather than insert myself into the conversation, I just let the tape roll, threw in a few topics and let the master jazz man expound on them ...
read moreLew Tabackin Trio: Soundscapes
by Dan Bilawsky
There's no substitute for experiencing jazz live. There are, however, some recordings that manage to do a damn good job coming close. This happens to be one of them. Noted jazz photographer Jimmy Katz, who's quickly developed a strong reputation as a recording engineer and producer who seeks to capture jazz in its true and unaltered forms, was the impetus behind the creation of this album. He sold saxophonist-flutist Lew Tabackin on the idea, set up a ...
read moreParis Jazz Diary 2015: Saxophonists Lew Tabackin, James Carter, Craig Handy
by Patricia Myers
Lew Tabackin, James Carter, Craig Handy Sunside-Sunset/Duc des Lombards Paris, France July 8, July 11, July 12, 2015 Getting great sax in Paris was a sure thing this summer with three American tenor titans Lew Tabackin, James Carter and Craig Handy performing within three soul-satisfying weeks. In the fewest words: Tabackin elegantly memorable, Carter riotously powerful, Handy balladeer extraordinaire. Much better, though, to cite details of the concerts and the contrasting styles on the same ...
read moreLew Tabackin: Jazz na Hrade
by Ken Dryden
Lew Tabackin began to make his mark in the '60s, touring or recording with Maynard Ferguson, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Duke Pearson, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Donald Byrd and The Tonight Show Band. From 1968-69, he was a main soloist with the Danish Radio Orchestra. He helped his wife, Toshiko Akiyoshi, to form her long-running jazz orchestra not long after they moved to California, taking part as its star soloist during its three decades of existence, though the veteran ...
read moreLew Tabackin
by Ken Dryden
Lew Tabackin needs no introduction to serious jazz fans. The tenor saxophonist and flutist worked with Maynard Ferguson, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, Joe Henderson, Duke Pearson, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones and The Tonight Show Band; was a star soloist with the Danish Radio Orchestra in the late '60s; and joined alto saxophonist Phil Woods for a one-shot small group album. But Tabackin made his mark in the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Jazz Orchestra for several decades until it disbanded in 2003. ...
read moreLew Tabackin: Tanuki's Night Out
by Ken Dryden
Lew Tabackin is in terrific form throughout this November 2001 trio concert from Studio F in Kasahara in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan, a recurring fall concert for the saxophonist/flutist since 1996. Joined by bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Mark Taylor, Tabackin begins on flute with a decidedly Far Eastern approach to John Coltrane's “Wise One. Tabackin's loping “Desert Lady has more of a Middle Eastern sound, suggesting a lonely walk and his haunting, unaccompanied two-minute cadenza ...
read moreLew Tabackin; Jammin' On The Hudson
Source:
Brownstone Entertainment Complex, LLC
Riverbank State Park, in association with Brownstone Entertainment Complex, LLC, for our seventh consecutive year are pleased to present: “Jammin' On The Hudson." 'Jammin'; The Summer Concert Series for the 'serious' Jazz Lover! The series features 'World-Class' Players, appearing one Sunday in July and one in August. What could be more inviting than listening to the sounds of great Jazz Artists, cast out over The Hudson River, at sunset, for Free?! On Sunday July 10th we open our Series with ...
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Gigging: Lew Tabackin at Smalls
Source:
Inverted Garden by Eric Benson
Nothing in Ken Burns's much-maligned, decade-old Official History of Jazz caused as much umbrage as Branford Marsalis's remark that in the 70s “jazz just kind of died; it just kind of went away for a while." As Nate Chinen chronicled several years ago in the Times, the 70s have been lovingly, exhaustively chronicled in the jazz blogosphere, with the indispensable Destination: OUT leading the way. This historical revisionism has been sorely needed—jazz didn't die during the '70s, but a whole ...
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Pianist Jimmy Amadie Features Three Saxophone Giants, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Lew Tabackin, on "Kindred Spirits"
Source:
DL Media
ON MAY 11, PIANIST JIMMY AMADIE WILL RELEASE HIS 7TH CD, KINDRED SPIRITS ON TP RECORDINGS, FEATURING SAXOPHONISTS LEE KONITZ, JOE LOVANO AND LEW TABACKINVeteran pianist Jimmy Amadie adds another chapter to his remarkable life story with Kindred Spirits, featuring an all-star lineup on a tailor-made selection of blazing swing and tender ballads. Each track features a collaboration with one of three saxophone giants: Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Lew Tabackin. As always, Amadie calls ...
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Lew Tabackin - Rites of Pan
Source:
All About Jazz
Available for the first time on CD, Inner City Records is proud to announce the re-release of Lew Tabackin's 1977 album Rites of Pan.
This album showcases Lew in a small group format, and is the first album on which he played exclusively flute. He is joined by Toshiko Akiyoshi on piano, who wrote two of the tunes they play, Shelly Manne on drums, and John Heard & Bob Daugherty on bass. Together they take on some standards like Weill's ...
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New Jazz It Up! Episode: Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield and the Lew Tabackin Trio Plus the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters Ceremony with George Benson Performance
Source:
All About Jazz
New York, NY - The very latest episode of the online jazz TV show, Jazz it Up!, is available now for your viewing pleasure. To subscribe and see a five-minute preview of the new episode. This edition of Jazz it Up! features two trios, both swinging hard: Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride and Mark Whitfield are seen in performance at the Jazz Standard in New York City for their first collaboration together in over a decade; and tenor saxophonist Lew Tabackin ...
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Mosaic Select: Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band
Source:
All About Jazz
One Of The Most Exciting & Original Big Bands In Jazz “Greatness is greatness, whether on the East Coast, the West Coast, in Tokyo, or anywhere else in the world. I think you will find it in this magnificently variegated, consistently exciting example of one of outstanding jazz orchestras of our time." --Leonard Feather, original liner notes In 1965, pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi returned to New York after three years in Japan. Soon thereafter, she formed an alliance with saxophonist Lew ...
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Jazz Mentors Program July 11th-14th with Lew Tabackin, Phil Woods, Maynard Ferguson, the Woody Herman Orchestra
Source:
All About Jazz
Is this Carnegie Hall?
No. But it could be, due to the illustrious and legendary jazz greats that The Jazz Mentors Program continues to bring to the area, in order to pass the torch to our kids, and to those young at heart.
Legends in Jazz--Maynard Ferguson, Phil Woods, John Coates Jr., Lew Tabackin, The Woody Herman Orchestra under the direction of Frank Tiberi, Billy Hart, and the Rutgers Music professors Mike Richmond and Stanley Cowell--are all headed to the ...
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Saxophonists Frank Wess, Lew Tabackin, Wayne Escoffery & Stephen Riley Convene For ‘Boudoir Tenors’: Feb. 28
Source:
All About Jazz
Features rhythm section of Bill Charlap (piano), Peter Washington (bass), and Kenny Washington (drums).
Jazz at Lincoln Center (J@LCLC), as part of its expanded Jazz at the Penthouse programming, will produce a special concert highlighting the rich ballad tradition of the tenor saxophone, as performed by four diverse and acclaimed practitioners of that instrument. “Boudoir Tenors” will take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, February 28, March 1 and 2, 2002 at 8pm in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse.
The ...
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Lew Tabackin
Location: Philadelphia
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Born: March 26, 1940
