John Stubblefield

Tenor saxophonist John Stubblefield ranks among the most powerful and innovative soloists of the post-Coltrane generation, collaborating with a who's who of modern jazz and avant-garde giants including Charles Mingus, whose big band Stubblefield later spearheaded. Born February 4, 1945, in Little Rock, AK, Stubblefield first studied the piano, but moved to saxophone as a teen. The product of a strictly segregated African-American neighborhood, he absorbed the music of the itinerant blues and gospel performers moving in and out of his environment, and their influence on the deeply emotional soloing that defines his best work proved profound. (Another huge inspiration was saxophonist Don Byas, the Basie alum who also called Little Rock home.) At 17 Stubblefield joined local R&B combo York Wilburn & the Thrillers, with whom he made his recording debut. He then spent a year on the road with soul legend Solomon Burke before studying music at A&ME College in Pine Bluff, AK, concurrently leading his own modern jazz quintet. After graduation, Stubblefield settled in Chicago in 1967, soon signing on with the pioneering avant-garde jazz collective the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); he studied under Muhal Richard Abrams and appeared on Joseph Jarman's landmark 1968 set As If It Were the Seasons. Stubblefield remained with the AACM until 1970, when he relocated to New York City and joined its East Coast counterpart, the Collective Black Artists. He played with Mary Lou Williams, Tito Puente, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Upon joining Mingus in 1972, Stubblefield added alto saxophone, oboe, flute, and bass clarinet to his arsenal, but after five months with the group he and Mingus suffered a falling-out that effectively left Stubblefield...