Jay Migliori

[EKE BBB]

My listening of Miles Davis´ "Live at the Hi-Hat" disc reminded me of bop-oriented saxophonist Jay Migliori, one of those little known musicians in the history of jazz.

Apart from being in the group Supersax and in Woody Herman´s orchestra, he played with many musicians when passing by Boston and took part in literally hundreds of recording sessions as a studio musician.

To my knowledge, these are the only albums under his name:

-1955: Jay Migliori Quintet, for the Transition label

-1975: disc for PRB Int.

-1980-81: disc(s) for Discovery

-1996: "Smile" (Cexton Records)

Any further information (discographical or not) would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Agustín

[marcello]

Website

Jay Migliori

11/14/1930 - 09/02/2001

veteran saxophonist migliori dead in calif. at 70 mission viejo, calif. (reuters) - jazz saxophonist jay migliori, who performed with charlie parker, miles davis, frank zappa and frank sinatra as well as the grammy-winning group supersax, has died at age 70, the los angeles times reported on friday.

migliori, who lived in the southern california city of mission viejo, died of colon cancer, the paper reported. he underwent cancer surgery six years ago. however, until just six weeks ago, he continued performing in nightclubs and other venues five nights a week. as a studio musician, migliori played on more than 4,000 commercial recordings including singles and albums by frank sinatra, dean martin, glen campbell, the beach boys, tito puente, neil diamond, the manhattan transfer, the monkees, ray charles and celine dion. he also performed with more than two dozen major bands including those led by the likes of miles davis, stan kenton, terry gibbs, louie bellson, si zentner and maynard ferguson. born in erie, pennsylvania, migliori received an alto saxophone for his 12th birthday and fell in love with jazz as a teen-ager. he once described his style as ``modern acoustic jazz with roots in bebop.''

saxophone legend charlie parker was also a major influence on migliori. in 1971 migliori joined supersax, a group with five saxophonists that specialized in performing arrangements of the improvised solos of charlie parker. the group's album, ''supersax plays bird,'' won a grammy in 1973 for best jazz instrumental performance by a group.

migliori recorded four of his own albums including ``jazz in transition''. he is survived by his wife, patti, four children and two grandchildren.

discography:

(all credits are for sax (tenor or bari) unless otherwise noted)

* 1942 capitol 50th anniversary jazz box

* 1947 atlantic jazz: singers

* 1947 atlantic jazz: 12 volume box set

* 1950 cole, nat king- big band cole

* 1951 herman, woody- compact jazz

* 1955 jay migliori quintet

* 1958 herman, woody- herman's heat & puente's beat

* 1963 spector, phil- christmas gift for you from phil sp

* 1964 big surf hits- big surf hits

* 1966 righteous brothers- back to back

* 1966 crawford, don- don crawford

* 1968 newman, randy- randy newman

* 1968 van dyke parks- song cycle (reeds (multiple), woodwind)

* 1968 monkees- birds, the bees & the monkees

* 1970 friends of distinction- whatever

* 1971 collins, albert- there's gotta be a change

* 1971 hawes, hampton- northern windows (flute, reeds)

* van dyke parks: discover america (2)

(1972, lp, usa, ??) - incl.various zappa alumni

* 1972 supersax- supersax plays bird

* 1973 dalton, kathy- amazing

* 1973 ammons, gene- brasswind (flute, flute (alto), alto sax)

* 1973 supersax- salt peanuts

* 1974 adderley, nat- double exposure (reeds)

* 1975 axelrod, david- seriously deep (wind)

* 1975 nilsson, harry- duit on mon dei

* 1975 axton, hoyt- southbound (horn)

* 1975 wainwright, loudon iii- unrequited (wind)

* 1975 adderley, cannonball- big man (reeds (multiple))

* 1975 sellers, maxine- life is short but it is wide

* 1975 chapin, harry- portrait gallery (reeds, wind, brass)

* 1975 phillips, esther- confessin' the blues

* 1976 tubes- young & rich

* 1976 waldman, wendy- main refrain

* 1976 manhattan transfer- coming out

* 1976 manhattan transfer- pastiche (reeds)

* 1977 phillips, michelle- victim of romance (wind, woodwind)

* 1977 phil spector's 20 greatest hits

* 1977 cohen, leonard- death of a ladies' man

* 1978 supersax- dynamite

* 1986 supersax- supersax and l.a. voices: straighte

* 1988 wilson, brian- brian wilson

* 1989 supersax- stone bird

* 1989 williams, joe- in good company

* 1989 harris, chiz- confirmation

* 1989 rip chords- hey little cobra

* 1991 marrying man- marrying man

* 1991 monkees- listen to the band

* 1991 spector, phil- back to mono (1958-1969) (horn, saxophone)

* 1991 kenton, stan- 50th anniversary celebration: the b

* 1992 league of their own- league of their own

* 1992 manhattan transfer- anthology: down in birdland

* 1992 herman, woody- crown royal

* 1993 axelrod, david- requiem: the holocaust (reeds (multiple))

* 1993 beach boys- good vibrations: thirty years of th (horn)

* 1993 puente, tito- blue gardenia

* 1994 everly brothers- heartaches & harmonies [box set] (woodwind)

* 1994 pianoel: an artist collection, vol. (reeds)

* 1996 usher, gary- gary usher greats, vol. 1: kickstan

* 1996 jan & dean- surf city/folk 'n roll (horn)

* 1996 monkees- missing links, vol. 3 (horn)

* 1996 waldman, wendy- love is the only goal: the best of (horn)

* 1996 heroes of country music, vol. 5: le (woodwind)

* 1996 best of jazz 'round midnight

* 1996 diamond, neil- in my lifetime

* 1996 jay migliori- smile

* 1997 day, doris- move over darling

* 1997 berry, jan- second wave

* 1997 wilsons- wilsons

* herman, woody- crazy rhythm

* herman, woody- ready-get set-jump

AND:

Jay Migliori was best known as a member of the group Supersax, where he shared tenor duties with Warne Marsh in the original line-up. The nine piece band (five saxes, trumpet and rhythm) was formed in LA in 1972, and specialised in playing highly virtuoso arrangements of Charlie Parker's solos, mostly by Med Flory.

Migliori had one taste of playing with Parker for real, when he was invited to sit in on several tunes at the Boston night club The Hi-Hat in 1954. The occasion was preserved on a radio broadcast on Symphony Sid Torin's networked show, and issued on disc on Bird in Boston: Live at the Hi-Hat, Vol. 2. Migliori was studying at Berklee College at the time, and playing in Boston's clubs.

He was given an alto saxophone as a present on his 12th birthday, and developed a passion for jazz as a teenager. He attended the St. Louis Institute of Music, then played in the 571st Air Force Band in Texas in 1951-2. On demobilisation, he enrolled at Berklee.

He made his recording debut in 1955, then joined Woody Herman in early 1957. He played with the Herman band for 18 months, including an extended tour of South America, and can be heard soloing on "The Preacher" and others on Herman's disc, Woody Herman '58 (Verve).

He settled in Los Angeles in late 1959, and became a busy studio musician, playing on an estimated 4,000 commercial recordings with a huge range of artists, including Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, Celine Dion and Frank Zappa.

He continued to play in jazz settings throughout his life, working with band leaders like Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, Terry Gibbs, Louie Bellson, and Maynard Ferguson, among many others. He led his own groups, playing what he described as "modern acoustic jazz with roots in bebop", and recorded occasional albums under his own name.

He underwent surgery for cancer in 1995, but continued to maintain a heavy working schedule until very recently. He died of colon cancer, and is survived by his wife, Patti, four children and two grandchildren.