Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Wellington Wess was born on January 4, 1922 in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of a principal father and a schoolteacher mother. He began with classical music training and played in Oklahoma in high school. He later switched to jazz after moving to Washington, DC and by nineteen was working with big bands.
Although his career was interrupted during World War, he played with a military band in the period. After leaving the military, he joined Billy Eckstine’s orchestra, then a few years later he returned to DC and received a degree in flute at the Modern School Of Music. He played tenor saxophone and flute with Count Basie from 1953 to 1964.
Wess was considered one of the best jazz flautists of his time and from 1959 to 1964 he won the Down Beat Critic Poll for flute. He went on to be a member of Clark Terry’s big band from 1967 into the 1970s, played in the New York Jazz Quartet with Roland Hanna and did a variety of work for TV.
In 1968 Frank contributed to the landmark album The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra. Over the course of his career he played with Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid, Buck Clayton, Benny Carter, Billy Taylor, Harry Edison, Mel Torme, Ernestine Anderson, Louie Bellson, John Pizzarelli, Milt Jackson, Quincy Jones, Yusef Lateeef, Howard Alden, Dick Hyman, Jane Jarvis, Frank Vignola, Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Hank Jones and the list continues.
NEA Jazz Master, flautist, alto and tenor saxophonist Frank Wess passed away from a heart attack related to kidney failure on October 30, 2013.
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