Oett M. Mallard (September 2, 1915 – August 29, 1986), also known as Sax Mallard, was a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based jazz saxophonist and bandleader.

Career and later life

He worked briefly (April–May 1943) with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and his Orchestra, as well as with Ellington's Octet (with Ellington, Mallard, Harold "Shorty" Baker,

Ray Nance Ray Willis Nance (December 10, 1913 – January 28, 1976) was an American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with Duke Ellington and his orchestra. Early years Nance was born in Chicago on D ...

, Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Lawrence Brown,

Harry Carney Harry Howell Carney (April 1, 1910 – October 8, 1974) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments, but primarily used the baritone saxophon ...

, Alvin "Junior" Raglin.Campbell, Robert L. and Robert Pruter and Armin Büttner "The Sax Mallard Discography"
Retrieved 3 July 2013. In 1946 he recorded with

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago ...

in a line-up comprising

Blind John Davis Blind John Davis (December 7, 1913 – October 12, 1985) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. He is best remembered for his recordings, including "A Little Every Day" and "Everybody's Boogie". Biography Davis was born in ...

Ernest "Big" Crawford Ernest "Big" Crawford (July 31, 1897 – March, 1956, Memphis, Tennessee) was an American blues double bassist. He played with Muddy Waters, Sunnyland Slim, Little Walter, Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Rogers, Big Maceo, Big Bill Broonzy, Washboard Sam, ...

, and Armand "Jump" Jackson, and that same year, and in 1947, he also recorded with

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...

, and with

Roosevelt Sykes Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper". Career Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...

, with whom he would continue to record into the early 1960s. In 1951, following a recording session for Big Bill Broonzy, Mallard recorded a track under his own name using the same musicians, and in 1952 he recorded three sessions for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

under the name of Sax Mallard and His Orchestra, with Sykes, Crawford, Jackson and Andrew Tibbs, of which only one track was released, as a 45 rpm, with the 1951 recording. He died of cancer on August 29, 1986, in

Discography

As leader/co-leader

*1951: "The Bunny Hop"/"Accent on Youth" - Mercury 70002Ruppli, Michel (1993) ''The Mercury Labels: The 1945-1956 era''. ABC-CLIO
At Google Books. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

As sideman

With

*'' Feel Like Blowing My Horn'' (Delmark, 1970

973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias ( Domestic of the Schools in the East), continues the op ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallard, Sax 1915 births 1986 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Duke Ellington Orchestra members Place of birth missing 20th-century American saxophonists American male jazz musicians Deaths from cancer in Illinois 20th-century American male musicians