Hal McKusick (June 1, 1924 – April 11, 2012) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist who worked with

Boyd Raeburn Boyd Albert Raeburn (October 27, 1913 – August 2, 1966) was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophone, bass saxophonist. Career He was born in Faith, South Dakota, United States. Raeburn attended the University of Chicago, where he led a ...

from 1944 to 1945 and Claude Thornhill from 1948 to 1949.

Career

McKusick was born in Medford, Massachusetts. In the early 1950s he worked with Terry Gibbs and Don Elliott. He recorded albums as a leader, including ''Triple Exposure'' (Prestige, 1957). At that time he made many recordings with groups led by George Russell. In 1958, Hal McKusick led a small group with Bill Evans that recorded ''Cross Section - Saxes'' which included contributions from

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop er ...

, Connie Kay, and Barry Galbraith. For this album, McKusick commissioned arrangements from George Handy,

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

, George Russell and Ernie Wilkins. He also worked on sessions with Lee Konitz and

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 ...

. In 1960, he starred in the

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

one-act play '' The Sandbox''. In his later years, he taught at the Ross School in East Hampton, New York. On April 11, 2012, McKusick died of natural causes at the age of 87.

Discography

As leader

* ''East Coast Jazz Series No. 8'' (Bethlehem, 1955) * ''In a Twentieth-Century Drawing Room'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * ''Hal McKusick Quintet Featuring Art Farmer'' (Coral, 1957) * ''Jazz at the Academy'' (Coral, 1957) * ''The Jazz Workshop'' (RCA Victor, 1957) * '' Triple Exposure'' (Prestige, 1957) * ''Cross Section Saxes'' (Decca, 1958) * ''Sax Duets'' (Music Minus One, 1977) * ''17 Jazz Duets for Two Flutes'' (Music Minus One, 1977) * ''Hal McKusick Plays/Betty St. Claire Sings'' (Fresh Sound, 1989)

As sideman

With Don Elliott * ''Don Elliott Sings'' (Bethlehem, 1955) * ''Mellophone'' (Bethlehem, 1955) * ''The Mello Sound'' (Decca, 1958) * ''Music for the Sensational Sixties'' (Design, 1958) * ''Love Is a Necessary Evil'' (Columbia, 1962) With Elliot Lawrence * ''Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements'' (Fantasy, 1956) * ''Plays Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel Arrangements'' (Fantasy, 1956) * ''Swinging at the Steel Pier'' (Vogue, 1956) * ''Big Band Modern'' (Jazztone, 1957) With George Russell * '' The Jazz Workshop'' (RCA Victor, 1957) * '' New York, N.Y.'' (Decca, 1959) * ''Jazz in the Space Age'' (Decca, 1960) With others * Manny Albam, '' The Drum Suite'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * Manny Albam, ''The Jazz Workshop'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * Ralph Burns, ''Ralph Burns Among the JATPs'' (Norgran, 1955) *

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...

, '' Earthy'' (Prestige, 1957) *

Al Cohn Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist ...

, '' Mr. Music'' (RCA Victor, 1955) * Bob Dorough, ''I'll Never Fall in Love Again'' (Music Minus One, 1970) * Bob Dorough, ''A Taste of Honey'' (Music Minus One, 1972) * Erroll Garner, ''Play It Again, Erroll!'' (Columbia, 1975) * Terry Gibbs, ''Swingin' with Terry Gibbs and His Orchestra'' (EmArcy, 1956) * Terry Gibbs, ''Vibes On Velvet'' (EmArcy/Mercury, 1956) *

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

, '' Take a Number from 1 to 10'' (Argo, 1961) * Urbie Green, ''All About Urbie Green and His Big Band'' (ABC-Paramount, 1955) * Urbie Green, ''The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green'' (Command, 1960) * Bill Harris, ''Bill Harris Herd'' (Norgran, 1956) *

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

, ''The Hawk in Hi-Fi'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * Milt Hinton, ''Basses Loaded!'' (RCA Victor, 1955) * Andre Hodeir, ''American Jazzmen Play Andre Hodeir's Essais'' (Savoy, 1957) * Osie Johnson, ''A Bit of the Blues'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * Teddi King, ''Bidin' My Time'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * Lee Konitz, '' Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre'' (Verve, 1959) * Gene Krupa, ''Drummer Man '' (Verve, 1956) * Gil Melle, '' Gil's Guests'' (Prestige, 1956) * Helen Merrill, '' The Artistry of Helen Merrill'' (Mainstream, 1965) * Jackie Paris, '' The Song Is Paris'' (Impulse!, 1962) *

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

, ''The Magnificent Charlie Parker'' (Clef, 1955) * Charlie Parker, ''Jazz Perennial'' (Verve, 1961) * Tony Perkins, ''On a Rainy Afternoon'' (RCA Victor, 1958) *

Nat Pierce Nathaniel Pierce Blish Jr., known professionally as Nat Pierce (July 16, 1925 – June 10, 1992) was an American jazz pianist and prolific composer and arranger, perhaps best known for being pianist and arranger for the Woody Herman band from 195 ...

, ''Kansas City Memories'' (Coral, 1957) *

, ''Boyd Meets Stravinski'' (Savoy, 1955) *

Alvino Rey Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Career Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...

, ''Uncollected 1946'' (Hindsight, 1978) * Bobby Scott, ''Bobby Scott Plays the Music of Leonard Bernstein'' (Verve, 1959) * Jack Six, ''Bacharach Revisited'' (Music Minus One, 1969) *

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

, ''Modern Jazz Concert'' (Columbia, 1958) * Tommy Shepard, ''Shepard's Flock'' (Coral, 1957) *

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...

, '' The Swingin' Miss "D"'' (EmArcy, 1957) * Dinah Washington, ''Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller'' (Mercury, 1959) * Phil Woods, ''Bird Feathers'' (Prestige, 1957) * Bob Wilber, ''Acapulco Princess'' (Music Minus One, 1972) * Bob Wilber, ''No More Blues'' (MMO Studios, 1972)

References

External links

Hal McKusick recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:McKusick, Hal 1924 births 2012 deaths American jazz alto saxophonists American male jazz musicians American male saxophonists Cool jazz saxophonists Prestige Records artists 20th-century American saxophonists