Sanford Gold (June 9, 1911 – May 29, 1984) 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 ...

pianist born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Gold played locally in Cleveland and led regional bands before moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the 1930s. There he collaborated with

Babe Russin Irving "Babe" Russin (June 18, 1911 – August 4, 1984) was an American tenor saxophone player. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Russin played with some of the best known jazz bands of the 1930s and 1940s, including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey a ...

and

Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist and record producer. Known best in his time as a composer of production music, Scott is today regarded as an early ...

in 1935, and formed a trio with

Dave Barbour David Michael Barbour (May 28, 1912 – December 11, 1965) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Peggy Lee and was her co-writer, accompanist, and bandleader. Biography Barbour was born in Long Island, New York, United States ...

in 1941. In 1942 he worked as a studio musician for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

before serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1942 to 1946. After being discharged from the military, he worked with

Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also l ...

, Mary Osborne and others before he went to work for CBS rival

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, from 1949-1954. An album was recorded under his name on the

Prestige Prestige may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films *Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband *The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...

label in 1955, entitled ''Piano d'Or''. Gold was also a sideman with

Johnny Smith Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote " Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life During the Great ...

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 ...

Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and car ...

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 ...

and Sally Blair. Gold was one of the premier jazz piano teachers of his time. His self-published book, ''A Modern Approach to Keyboard Harmony and Piano Techniques,'' distills the complexities of jazz and classical harmony down to a simple yet far-reaching system of piano and harmonic exercises, and has become an underground classic for serious students of the instrument.

Discography

* Don Byas: ''Don Byas 1946'' (Classics) *

and His Charlie Tavern's Ensemble: ''East Coast-West Coast Scene'' (RCA Victor, 1954) *Al Cohn: ''

Mr. Music ''Mr. Music'' is a 1950 film starring Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson, directed by Richard Haydn, and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the play '' Accent on Youth'' written by Samson Raphaelson. Filming took place from October to Dece ...

'' (RCA Victor, 1955) * Vic Dickenson: ''Breaks, Blues & Boogie'' (Topaz, 1941–46) *

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

: ''

The Complete Roost Recordings ''The Complete Roost Recordings'' is a 1997 compilation 3-CD set of sessions led by saxophonist and bandleader Stan Getz recorded for the Roost Records label between 1950 and 1954. The compilation includes material previously released on Getz's ...

'' (Blue Note, 1950–54

997 Year 997 ( CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first child of the emperor, but because of the power stru ...

: '' The Hawk Talks'' (Decca, 1952-53

955 Year 955 ( CMLV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 10 – Battle of Lechfeld: King Otto I ("the Great") defeats the Hungarians (also known as Magyars) near Augsburg (Germa ...

* Johnny Smith: ''Moonlight in Vermont'' (Fresh Sound, 1952–53), * Johnny Smith - Stan Getz Quintet: Stan Getz - ''The Complete 1948-1952 Quintet Sessions ''(Blue Moon) * Sally Blair: ''Squeeze Me'' (Fresh Sound, 1957) * Buddy Greco .''I Like It Swinging'' (Epic, 1962)

References

* Sanford Goldat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Sanford Gold's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Sanford 1911 births 1984 deaths American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Musicians from Cleveland Prestige Records artists 20th-century American pianists American music educators Educators from Ohio Jazz musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians