Rusty Higgins is an American music master, saxophonist, arranger, composer, and session musician. As a member of the Bob Florence Limited Edition, Higgins won the Grammy Award in 2000 for

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

for '' Serendipity 18''. Based in Los Angeles, Higgins has performed with Frank Sinatra,

Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Ralph Carmichael Ralph Carmichael (May 27, 1927 – October 18, 2021) was an American composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. Early Life and Career ...

, Les Brown, and

Toni Tennille Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is " Love Will Keep U ...

Early life

Higgins was born in Akron, Ohio, and attended Cuyahoga Falls High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and graduated in 1967. He went to Kent State University to pursue a major in Bassoon Performance. He then traveled with many different bands for five years before moving to Los Angeles, where he has served as a woodwind doubler (saxophone, clarinet, flute) for 39 years. His primary experiences include extensive recording studio, theater, and jazz concert work. He has conducted master classes, clinics, and jazz workshops at high schools throughout California and Ohio, Kent State University, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Career

Higgins was a featured sax soloist with Les Brown's Band of Renown. He joined

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were American recording artists whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinu ...

in 1979 and served as Toni Tennille's symphony orchestra conductor beginning in 1984, conducting more than 70 orchestras. He played for both of President Reagan's presidential inaugural balls. He has also worked with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band,

Louis Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

Ray Anthony Raymond Antonini (born January 20, 1922), known as Ray Anthony, is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, and actor. He is the last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Biography Anthony was born to an Italian family in Be ...

Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese–American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in '' Down Beat'' magazine's annual Readers' Poll. ...

, Bill Holman,

Tom Kubis Tom Kubis is an American jazz musician and arranger. A native of Los Angeles, Kubis started a big band to play his arrangements. He has also written arrangements for Bill Watrous and the BBC Radio Big Band. He studied 20th century composition ...

, Wayne Bergeron,

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Reco ...

Jack Sheldon Beryl Cyril Sheldon Jr. (November 30, 1931 – December 27, 2019), known professionally as Jack Sheldon, was an American singer, musician, and actor. He performed on '' The Merv Griffin Show'' and participated in episodes of the educational musi ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–1 ...

, and the L.A. Rams Band. Higgins has recorded or performed with Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney, Sting, Kenny G., Arturo Sandoval, Michael Buble, Michael Feinstein, the Temptations, Diana Ross, Manhattan Transfer, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, and Avenged Sevenfold. Higgins has been teaching saxophone at

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

since 2002. He directs the Azusa Pacific Jazz Ensemble No. 2 and teaches a course in woodwind techniques. He owns and manages his own store, Long Beach Woodwinds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Rusty Living people American male saxophonists Azusa Pacific University faculty 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)