Oett "Sax" Mallard

At birth, he was given a name that looks like leftovers from a Scrabble board, but if only every musician could be as clear-thinking about a nickname as Oett Mallard. He used both this name and Sax Mallard during his career, attracting more attention from jazz and blues fans with the latter and garnering very little attention from duck hunters with former. He came up the hard way on the streets of Chicago, earning his own living at six years old when he created his first job, selling shopping bags. At ten, he was a shoeshine boy. He got his first saxophone at 16, studying in high school with Captain Walter Dyett. His first gig of any note was playing on the radio with vocalist Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon. Following graduation, Mallard toured the United States and Canada for two and a half years with a former classmate, whom he felt might just have some audience appeal. The hunch would prove to be correct: it was pianist and vocalist Nat "King" Cole. This was more than just a small combo on tour, however. Cole and Mallard were part of the show Shuffle Along, a brainstorm of promoter Miller Lyle, known to some of his employees as "Miller Lyin'." Drummer Floyd Campbell recalled "Miller Lyle didn't pay half the band and some of the guys had to almost walk back to Chicago." Mallard achieved a peculiar type of revenge by marrying Lyle's daughter and they hustled their way back to the Windy City, the saxman joining Kenny McVey's band along the way. When he turned 21, Mallard sold his first arrangement to the grinning bandleader and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. Between this time and the beginning of the second World War, Mallard began working with many well-known artists, including Fats Waller, the Deep River Boys, the Original Ink Spots, the Andy Kirk Band, and pianist Mary Lou...