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Harold Lomax Ousley was born January 23, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois. Heavily influenced by Gene Ammons, he began playing tenor saxophone and flute in the late 1940s. In the 1950s he recorded behind vocalists such as Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. Throughout the decade Harold also played as a sideman with Gene Ammons and with Jack McDuff and George Benson in the 1960s.

Ousley released his first record as a leader in 1961 titled Tenor Sax on the Bethlehem label. He would go on to lead five more session up to the new millennium for Muse, Cobblestone, Digi-Rom, Tele-Jazz and Delmark labels. His 16-bar blues boogaloo “Return of the Prodigal Son”  demonstrated his flair but was a hit on George Benson’s Cookbook release.

During the 1970s Harold was playing with Lionel Hampton and Count Basie but his star was fading to the rise of fusion and then resurgent mainstream. He moved into cable television production featuring jazz performance and interviews, not recording again until the late 90s.

Though he heavily resides in blues, Ousley quickly cites Charlie Parker as his first model for the hard bop lines in his music. However the gentler side of this tenor is the sweet sound of his ballads. Tenor saxophonist Harold Ousley passed away on August 13, 2015 in Brooklyn New York.

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