Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Herbie Fields was born May 24, 1919 in Asbury Park, New Jersey and attended Juilliard School of Music. He served two years in the Army during WWII until 1943. He began recording in 1944 with two sides for Bob Thiele’s Signature label and over the next year and a half he recorded for Savoy, and shared a date with “Rubberlegs” Williams that featured teenaged Miles Davis’ recording debut.

Fields replaced Earl Bostic as alto saxophonist in Lionel Hampton’s band and was fluent in a variety of reed instruments, from clarinet to baritone saxophone. In 1945, he won Esquire Magazine’s New Star Award on the Alto Sax. In 1946, RCA Victor signed Fields as leader of his own big band.

Herbie would lead the big band with sidemen Neal Hefti, Bill Evans, Eddie Bert, Manny Albam, Marty Napoleon and Serge Chaloff among others and Dardanella was their biggest hit. He formed a septet in 1949 based in Chicago that backed numerous stage shows and in 1950 accompanied Billie Holiday 3-month East Coast tour.

Fields gravitated toward an R& B conception in the Fifties without success and recorded sporadically. He moved to Miami, Florida, opened a restaurant an on September 17, 1958 alto saxophonist Herbie Fields died of an overdose of sleeping pills at his home.

More Posts: saxophone