John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor saxophone, tenor and baritone saxophone, baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe.

Biography

Handy was born in Dallas, Texas, United States. He first came to prominence while working for Charles Mingus in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Handy led several groups, among them a quintet with Michael White (violinist), Michael White, violin, Jerry Hahn, guitar, Don Thompson (musician), Don Thompson, bass, and Terry Clarke (drummer), Terry Clarke, drums. This group's performance at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival was recorded and released as an album; Handy received Grammy Award, Grammy nominations for "Spanish Lady" (jazz performance) and "If Only We Knew" (jazz composition). After completing high school at McClymonds High School in Oakland, California, Oakland, he studied music at San Francisco State College, interrupted by service during the Korean War, graduating in 1958. Following graduation, he moved to New York City. Handy has taught music history and performance at San Francisco State University, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In the 1980s he worked in the project Bebop & Beyond, which recorded tribute albums to Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. His son, John Richard Handy IV, is a drummer who has played with Handy on occasion. In 2009, he received the Beacon Award from SFJAZZ Center, SF JAZZ.

Discography

As leader

* ''In the Vernacular'' (Roulette Records, Roulette, 1959) * ''No Coast Jazz'' (Roulette, 1960) * ''Jazz (John Handy album), Jazz'' (Roulette, 1962) * ''Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival'' (Columbia Records, Columbia, 1966) * ''The 2nd John Handy Album'' (Columbia, 1966) * ''New View (John Handy album), New View'' (Columbia, 1967) * ''Projections (John Handy album), Projections'' (Columbia, 1968) * ''Karuna Supreme'' (MPS Records, MPS, 1975) with Ali Akbar Khan * ''Hard Work'' (Impulse! Records, Impulse!, 1976) * ''Carnival (John Handy album), Carnival'' (Impulse! 1977) * ''Where Go the Boats'' (Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros., 1978) * ''Handy Dandy Man'' (Warner Bros., 1978) * ''Rainbow (John Handy album), Rainbow'' (MPS, 1980) with Ali Akbar Khan and Dr. L. Subramaniam * ''Excursion in Blue'' (Quartet, 1988) * ''Centerpiece'' (Milestone Records, Milestone, 1989) with CLASS * ''Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival'' (Koch International Records, Koch, 1996) * ''Live at Yoshi's Nightspot'' (Boulevard Records (U.S.), Boulevard, 1996) * ''John Handy's Musical Dreamland'' (Boulevard, 1996)

As sideman

With Brass Fever * ''Brass Fever (album), Brass Fever'' (Impulse!, 1975) * ''Time Is Running Out (album), Time Is Running Out'' (Impulse!, 1976) With Charles Mingus * ''Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland'' (United Artists, 1959) * ''Mingus Ah Um'' (Columbia, 1959) * ''Mingus Dynasty'' (Columbia, 1959) * ''Blues & Roots'' (Atlantic, 1960) * ''Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop'' (Fantasy, 1964) With Mingus Dynasty (band), Mingus Dynasty * ''Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 1'' (Soul Note, 1988) * ''Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 2'' (Soul Note, 1988)

References

External links

*
John Handy talks about the Fillmore neighborhood and Bop City (1999)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Handy, John 1933 births Living people American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists African-American saxophonists Columbia Records artists Impulse! Records artists MPS Records artists San Francisco State University faculty 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Mingus Dynasty (band) members Bebop & Beyond members Brass Fever members 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people