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Don Byas Biography |
Carlos Wesley (Don) Byas (October 21, 1912-August 24, 1972) was a popular African-American jazz musician born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in the United States. Although his long residence in Europe kept him out of the public eye in the United States, he is widely considered to be one of the great jazz tenor saxophonists.
He began his career in swing, playing with Lionel Hampton, Buck Clayton, Don Redman, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, and Count Basie. In the 1940s he also jammed and worked with bop musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie. He also recorded extensively.
In 1946 he toured Europe with Don Redman, and moved there. He lived in France, Denmark, or the Netherlands for the rest of his life. He worked extensively in Europe, often with such touring American musicians as Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Duke Ellington, Gillespie, Jazz at the Philharmonic, Bud Powell, and Ben Webster.
He died in Amsterdam, of lung cancer. |
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