Carol Sudhalter

Last updated
Carol Sudhalter
Birth nameCarol Sudhalter
Born (1943-01-05) January 5, 1943 (age 78)
Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)musician & journalist
Instruments Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Flute
Piano
Years active1975–present

Carol Stearns Sudhalter (January 5, 1943) is an American Jazz saxophonist.

Contents

Biography

Sudhalter grew up in a musical family: Her father Albert played the alto saxophone in the New England area with the bands of Herbie Marsh, Eddy Duchin, Bobby Hackett and others. Her brothers and other relatives were also musicians. Richard Sudhalter, nicknamed "Dick", the oldest brother, played trumpet/cornet and wrote award-winning books on Jazz history. Middle brother James played baritone saxophone and formed and ran a ’twist’ band.

Musical career

In the early nineteen-sixties Sudhalter began to play flute while majoring in biology at Smith College. She continued to study flute with private teachers in Washington DC, New York, Boston, Israel and Italy until 1978. She studied theory and Third Stream music with Ran Blake and Phil Wilson at the New England Conservatory of Music. From the nineteen-seventies on she has been teaching piano, saxophone and flute privately, at Mannes College, and for the New York Pops Salute to Music Program.

In 1975 she decided to take up saxophone, and in 1978 relocated from Boston to NYC to join the first all-women Latin band, Latin Fever, produced by Larry Harlow (salsa). In 1986 she founded the Astoria Big Band. [1] She has performed with Sarah McLawler, Etta Jones, Chico Freeman, Jimmy McGriff, Duffy Jackson and other celebrities, and played in renowned NYC Jazz clubs as well as domestic, Italian [2] and British Jazz festivals. She initiated the ‘Jazz Monday’ concerts at Athens Square Park between 1989 and 2001, along with several other local festivals in Queens, NY, where she resides. Sudhalter is a member of the Jazz Journalists Association. [3]

She was written up in Leslie Gourse's MADAME JAZZ [4] [5] (Oxford University Press, 1997) as Chapter 14: "Carol Sudhalter: A Role Model" as well as in W. Royal Stokes' "Growing Up With Jazz" [6] [7] (Oxford University Press, 2005). More articles were recently published in THE HUFFINGTON POST, [8] The Queens Council on the Arts [9] and on local802afm.org. [10]

In 2012 Carol Sudhalter was nominated for the 2012 International Down Beat Readers’ Jazz Poll, and was voted 9th place in the category "best Jazz Flutist". [11]

Discography (as a leader)

TitleFormat & YearLabel
Hey ThereLP - 1985Carolina Records
SoonCD - 1997Carolina Records
Carol in the Garden of JazzCD - 1999Carolina Records
It's TimeCD - 2002Carolina Records
Last Train to AstoriaCD - 2002Carolina Records
Shades of Carol [12] [13] CD - 2005Alfa Music
The Octave Tunes [14] CD - 2010Alfa Music
Carmelo and Carol Remember: The Great Film Music of the SixtiesCD - 2011Geco Records with special permission from Alfa Music

Discography (as a "sideman")

TitleFormat & YearLabel
Sarah McLawler - Under My HatCD - 2010MVD Entertainment Group

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References

  1. New York Big Band Caroling by Roy Fox, Queens Q-guide, April 15, 1999.
  2. Carol Zittisce Tutti by Beppe Montresor, Il Giornale D Verona, December 29, 2002
  3. Jazz Journalists Association.
  4. Leslie Gourse's MADAME JAZZ.
  5. Review by Nancy Ann Lee, from Jazz Notes, February 2, 1995.
  6. Bridget Arnwine’s Review of Growing Up With Jazz Archived 2013-11-18 at the Wayback Machine .
  7. Review by Janine Coveney.
  8. Astoria Characters: The Sax Player.
  9. Artist Pick of the Month – Carol Sudhalter Archived January 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Carol Sudhalter’s Jazz Narratives by Todd Bryant Weeks.
  11. Queens Chronicle, November 15, 2012 by Josey Bartlett.
  12. The Washington Post, May 12, 2006 by Mike Joyce.
  13. Review on jazzreview.com by Peter Westbrook.
  14. Review on JazzSaints.