Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Meredith Irwin Flory, was born on August 27, 1926 in Logansport, Indiana and  was encouraged by his organist mother to learn clarinet as a child. During World War II he was an Army Air Force pilot and after his discharge went on to matriculate through  Indiana University, graduating with a degree in philosophy.

Known professionally as Med Flory, in the early 1950s he played in the bands of Claude Thornhill and Woody Herman, before forming his own ensemble in New York City. 1955 saw him relocating to California and starting a new group, which played at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival. In the late 1950s, he played with Terry Gibbs, Art Pepper, and Herman again, playing both tenor and baritone saxophone. He was cast in twenty-nine episodes from 1956 to 1957 of the ABC variety show, The Ray Anthony Show.

In the 1960s Med turned his attention away from music and concentrated on acting and screenwriting in television and film. His long list of credits include mostly westerns and crime dramas, which were popular at the time.

By the mid Sixties Flory returned to music and worked with Art Pepper and Joe Maini on transcriptions and arrangements of Charlie Parker recordings. In 1972, he co-founded Supersax, an ensemble devoted to Parker’s work. Supersax’s debut album, Supersax Plays Bird, won a Grammy Award.

Tenor and baritone saxophonist, bandleader, and actor Med Flory transitioned on March 12, 2014 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Logansport saxophonist to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…

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