Alto saxophonist Earl Bostic – born Eugene Earl Bostic in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 25, 1913 – was an influential jazz musician and is considered a pioneer of a post-war American rhythm and blues style of jazz. His main musical influence was Sidney Bechet although it has been rumored that he was also influenced by John Coltrane. At the age of 18, he became a a professional musician upon joining Terence Holder’s band Twelve Clouds of Joy. He worked with local area bands as well as established musicians such as Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk, Cab Calloway, Hot Lips Page and many others. It wasn’t until he joined Lionel Hampton that he made his first recording in 1939. In 1945, he formed his own band and recorded for the first time under his own name. Changing his musical direction towards rhythm and blues, he cut a series of hit records including “You Go to My Head”, “Temptation”, “Flamingo”, and “Cherokee”. In the early 1950s, he released five different volumes of Earl Bostic and His Alto Sax, all on 10-inch vinyl. During this period, he began to record songs that moved beyond the three minute limitations of a single. He became an in-demand arranger for artists such as Louis Prima, Lionel Hampton, Jack Teagarden, and others. As a songwriter, his compositions were recorded by Anita O’Day, Roy Eldridge, and others. Bostic recorded a well-received series of albums throughout the rest of the 1950s including Dance Time, which had the unique distinction of being recorded in mono in 1956 and then re-recorded in stereo in 1957 by a different set of musicians. Bostic entered the 1960s by expanding his repertoire on albums like Earl Bostic Plays the Hit Tunes of Big Broadway Shows (1960), Earl Bostic Plays Bossa Nova (1963), Jazz As I Feel It (1963), and A New Sound (1964). On October 28, 1965, Earl Bostic died of a heart attack on stage while playing live with his band in Rochester, New York.
