Frank Strozier
| Frank Strozier | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Frank R. Strozier, Jr. |
| Born | June 13, 1937 Memphis, Tennessee |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Instruments | Alto saxophone |
| Labels | Vee-Jay, Jazzland, SteepleChase |
| Associated acts | MJT + 3 |
Frank R. Strozier, Jr. (born June 13, 1937)[1] is an alto saxophonist renowned for his playing in the hard bop idiom.
Strozier was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned to play piano.[1][2] He grew up in a middle-class family. His father, Frank, Sr., was a pharmacist who owned a drug store and his mother, Mildred, worked as a clerk in the same drug store.[3] In 1954, he moved to Chicago, where he performed with Harold Mabern, George Coleman, and Booker Little (all, like Strozier, from Memphis).[1] He recorded with the MJT + 3 from 1959–1960, and led sessions for Vee-Jay Records.
After moving to New York, Strozier was briefly with the Miles Davis Quintet in 1963[2] (between the tenures of Hank Mobley and George Coleman) and also gigged with Roy Haynes. He relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked with Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, and most notably the Don Ellis big band.[2] Returning to New York in 1971, Strozier worked with Keno Duke's Jazz Contemporaries,[1] the New York Jazz Repertory Company, Horace Parlan and Woody Shaw, as well others.
Discography
As leader
- 1960: Fantastic Frank Strozier (Vee-Jay)
- 1960: Cloudy and Cool (Vee-Jay)
- 1961: Long Night (Jazzland)
- 1962: March of the Siamese Children (Jazzland)
- 1976: Dance, Dance (Trident Records)
- 1976: Remember Me (SteepleChase Records)
- 1977: What's Goin' On (Steeplechase)
As sideman
- Chet Baker: Baby Breeze (Verve, 1965), with Phil Urso, Kenny Burrell, Bob James, Hal Galper, Bobby Scott
- Don Ellis Orchestra: Autumn (Columbia, 1968)
- Booker Ervin: Exultation! (Prestige, 1963)
- Louis Hayes: Variety Is the Spice (Gryphon, 1977)
- Roy Haynes: Cymbalism (New Jazz, 1963)
- Stafford James: The Stafford James Ensemble (Red, 1977)
- Sam Jones: Down Home (Riverside, 1962)
- Shelly Manne: Manne–That's Gershwin! (Capitol, 1965)
- Shelly Manne: Boss Sounds! (Atlantic, 1966)
- Shelly Manne: Jazz Gunn (Atlantic, 1967)
- Shelly Manne: Perk Up (Concord Jazz, 1967 [1976])
- Shelly Manne: Daktari (Atlantic, 1967)
- MJT + 3: Walter Perkins' MJT + 3 (Vee-Jay, 1959), with Harold Mabern, Bob Cranshaw, Walter Perkins
- MJT + 3: Make Everybody Happy (Vee-Jay, 1960)
- MJT + 3: MJT + 3 (Vee-Jay, 1960)
- MJT + 3: Message from Walton Steet (Koch Records, 2000)
- Horace Parlan: Frank-ly Speaking (SteepleChase, 1977)
- The Three Sounds and the Oliver Nelson Orchestra: Coldwater Flat (Blue Note, 1968)
- The Young Lions: The Young Lions (Vee-Jay, 1960)
- Woody Shaw: Little Red's Fantasy (Muse, 1976)
