Billy Phipps (25 December 1931 – 3 December 2011) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

baritone saxophonist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who contributed to the development of a wide range of jazz styles including

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sa ...

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...

, and primitive.

Career

Phipps was born on December 25, 1931, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, United States into a jazz family. Billy's cousin, Eugene Phipps, Sr. traveled with

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

, Joe Guy,

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

and

Ike Quebec Ike Abrams Quebec (August 17, 1918January 16, 1963) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career in the big band era of the 1940s, then fell from prominence for a time until launching a comeback in the years before his death. Crit ...

on a national tour. Cousin Ernie Phipps led the big band The Monarchs of Rhythm with Eugene Phipps, Sr. at the

Savoy Ballroom The Savoy Ballroom was a large ballroom for music and public dancing located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Lenox Avenue was the main thoroughfare through upper Harlem ...

along with The Sultans of Swing, Poncho Diggs, and other big bands. During the 1950s Eugene Phipps co-led the house band at Newark's legendary Washington Bar, which featured performers such as

Babs Gonzales Babs Gonzales (October 27, 1919 – January 23, 1980), born Lee Brown, was an American bebop vocalist, poet, and self-published author. His books portrayed the jazz world that many black musicians struggled in, portraying disk jockeys, club o ...

, Lew-Rew Jordan, and Ike Quebec. In the 1950s Billy Phipps along with brother Nat Phipps formed a band whose members included

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

, Grachan Moncur, Chris White, Charlie Mason, Harold Phipps and Robert Thomas. Phipps began his jazz career playing bebop on

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and baritone saxophone. As a teenager, Phipps was a regular in Newark and New York bands, once opening for

. In 1960 the Phipps band broke up to form the Mega Tones. Billy Phipps left the Mega Tones to tour with

Buddy Johnson Woodrow Wilson "Buddy" Johnson (January 10, 1915 – February 9, 1977) was an American jump blues pianist and bandleader active from the 1930s through the 1960s. His songs were often performed by his sister Ella Johnson, most notably "Since I ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

and his Big Band, The Ray Charles Band, and "Brother"

Jack McDuff Eugene McDuffy (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz ...

. Encouraged by Wayne Shorter who introduced Phipps to

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, Phipps began shifting to hard bop in his style. Despite a significant jazz career, the lack of Phipps's notoriety (as well as that of other black jazz performers) has been attributed to the reportage of white jazz critics.

Recording and performance

Phipps recorded baritone sax on several seminal jazz albums, including '' Primitive Modern'' with the Gil Melle Quartet (1956), ''

Gin and Orange ''Gin and Orange'' is a 1969 album by organist Jack McDuff, Brother Jack McDuff recorded both live and in the studio which was his third release on the Cadet Records, Cadet label.Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

, hosted by Bill Cosby, Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg and Branford Marsalis. Despite failing health, Phipps continued to perform live in the New York city area and to record with other notable jazz musicians. In an homage to his Newark origins, Phipps performed with the Newark Jazz Elders, whose members provided a generational bridge between 1950s bebop and contemporary jazz.

Selected discography

* '' Primitive Modern'' – Gil Melle Quartet (LP), Prestige Records, 1956 * ''

Gin and Orange ''Gin and Orange'' is a 1969 album by organist Jack McDuff, Brother Jack McDuff recorded both live and in the studio which was his third release on the Cadet Records, Cadet label.Jack McDuff Eugene McDuffy (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz ...

(Album, CD), Cadet, 1969 * ''Ocho'' (LP, Album), West Side Latino Records, 1972 * '' Joy of Cookin''' – Joe Thomas (LP), Groove Merchant, 1972 * ''Tornado'' (LP), El Sonido, 1976 * ''Mamey Colora'o / Sneakin' Up Behind You'' (LP), El Sonido, 1976 * ''Sabroso!: The Afro-Latin Groove'' (LP), Rhino Records, 1998 * ''Ocho (The First Album)'' (CD, Album, RE), Universal Sound 2000 * ''The Woman in Me (CD), Laranah Phipps Flat 5 Records (USA), 2001 * ''Moon Rappin' '' (CD), Blue Note Records (USA), 2002 * ''Phipps & Friends '' (CD), Pipeline Music (USA), 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Billy 1931 births 2011 deaths American jazz baritone saxophonists Jazz musicians from Newark, New Jersey Crossover jazz saxophonists Hard bop saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists