Lew Tabackin | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lewis Barry Tabackin |
| Born | March 26, 1940 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Tenor saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels | RCA Victor/BMG, Discomate, Inner City |
| Website | www |
Lewis Barry Tabackin (born March 26, 1940) [1] is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and flutist. He is married to pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi with whom he has co-led large ensembles since the 1970s.
Tabackin started learning flute at age 12, followed by tenor saxophone at age 15. [2] He has cited Al Cohn [2] [3] and Coleman Hawkins [2] as influences on saxophone, while his flute role models include classical players such as William Kincaid, Julius Baker, and Jean-Pierre Rampal. [2] Tabackin studied flute at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and also studied music with composer Vincent Persichetti. In 1962 he graduated from the Conservatory and after serving with the U.S. Army worked with Tal Farlow. He also worked with Chuck Israels in New York City [2] and a band that included Elvin Jones, Donald Byrd, and Roland Hanna. Later he was a member of The Dick Cavett Show band and The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen. [4] He moved from New York to California with The Tonight Show in 1972. [3] During this time he played with Shelly Manne and Billy Higgins. [3]
Tabackin met Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1967 while he was playing in Clark Terry's band and he was invited to sit in for Don Friedman. [3] They formed a quartet in the late 1960s, married in 1969, [5] and in 1973 co-founded the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band in Los Angeles, [3] which later became the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin, playing bebop in Duke Ellington-influenced arrangements and compositions by Akiyoshi. Tabackin was principal soloist for the band from 1973 through 2003.
Critic Scott Yanow describes Tabackin as "one of the few jazz musicians who has been able to develop completely different musical personalities on two instruments", with his forceful hard bop style on sax contrasting with his delicate flute playing. [6]
Tabackin supports the Jazz Foundation of America in its mission to help elderly jazz and blues musicians, including those affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has sat on the Advisory Committee of the Foundation since 2002. [7]
As leader or co-leader
Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band
Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin
Akiyoshi - Tabackin Big Band compilations | As sidemanWith Toshiko Akiyoshi
With Donald Byrd
With Benny Carter
With Harmonie Ensemble/New York
With Shelly Manne With Duke Pearson
With Carla White With others
Video
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DownBeat magazine Critic's Poll winner: [12]
DownBeat magazine Readers' Poll winner:
Grammy Award nominations:
Swing Journal awards:
Toshiko Akiyoshi is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader.
Kogun is the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor in 1974 and received the Swing Journal Silver Disk prize for that year. It was later released on RCA Victor in the USA and elsewhere and received a 1979 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band.
Long Yellow Road is the second album by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was named Best Jazz Album of the year by Stereo Review magazine. In 1976, the album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band.
Tales of a Courtesan (Oirantan) is the third recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It is also sometimes referred to by the title HANA KAI TAN (花魁譚) in rōmaji listings of the Japanese album title.
From Toshiko With Love is the twelfth recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It was released in Japan by Victor Records and in the U.S. by Jazz America Marketing – not to be confused with the 2002 Lew Tabackin Trio recording of the same name (Tanuki's Night Out). The album received two Grammy award nominations in 1981 for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band" and "Best Arrangement of an Instrumental Recording".
Road Time was the first live concert recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The recording was made at three concerts in Tōkyō and Ōsaka, during a 1976 Japan tour and the double album received a 1977 Grammy nomination in the "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" category.
Insights is the fourth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band and was voted "Jazz Album of the Year" in the 1978 Down Beat magazine critic's poll. It received the Swing Journal magazine 1976 Gold Disk prize in Japan and was nominated for a 1978 Grammy award in the USA for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band.
March of the Tadpoles was the fifth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album was released in Japan in 1977 by Baystate. The album received two 1985 Grammy award nominations – for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band" and for "Best Arrangement on an Instrumental".
Salted Gingko Nuts [sic], also known by its Japanese title SHIO GIN NAN, is the sixth studio album by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. Released in 1978, the album received the 1979 Silver Disk award from Japan's Swing Journal magazine.
Sumi-e was the seventh studio recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. Not to be confused with the 1971 Toshiko Akiyoshi Quartet release, Sumie / The Personal Aspect in Jazz. Sumi-e refers to an East Asian style of brush painting.
Farewell is the eighth studio recording released by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The album received a 1980 Grammy award nomination for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band."
European Memoirs is the tenth studio recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. Akiyoshi was nominated for a 1983 Grammy award in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category for the arrangement of "Remembering Bud" on this album. This would be the final recording of the Los Angeles-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band before the principals moved to New York City in 1982 and formed a new big band, the "Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin" that released nine more albums and two live performance videos before disbanding in 2003.
My Elegy is a concert video recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. It was released in Japan in 1984 by LaserDisc Corp. as a LaserVision video disk.
The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band, Novus Series '70 is a compilation album of songs taken from the band's early RCA releases of 1974~1976.
Sumie is a jazz album recorded by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Quartet in Tokyo in early March 1971 and released by Victor (Japan) Records. It is not to be confused with the 1979 release, Sumie by the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band.
Time Stream: Toshiko Plays Toshiko is a small jazz combo album by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi playing her own compositions. It was recorded in 1996 and released by Nippon Crown Records. This recording is not to be confused with the 1984 Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio recording, Time Stream or the 1979 Toshiko Akiyoshi Quartet (Discomate) recording, Toshiko Plays Toshiko.
Since her debut recording for Norgran Records in 1954, jazz pianist, composer, arranger and big band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi has recorded continually – almost exclusively as a leader of small jazz combos and of her big bands – averaging one studio album release per year for well over 50 years. She has also recorded several live albums in solo, small combo and big band settings, including three big band concert videos. Akiyoshi has released multiple albums for Victor / BMG, Nippon Columbia, Toshiba, Discomate, Nippon Crown and other labels in Japan and for Norgran / Verve, RCA, Columbia / Sony, Concord and her own Ascent label in the US. All of her big band recordings and nearly all of her other early works have been re-issued on CDs over the years.
The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band was a 16 piece jazz big band created by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and tenor saxophone/flutist Lew Tabackin in Los Angeles in 1973. In 1982 the principals moved from Los Angeles to New York City and re-formed the group with new members under the name, The Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra featuring Lew Tabackin. Akiyoshi arranged all of the music for the band and composed nearly all of the music recorded by the two groups over a 30-year period. Tabackin served as the bands' featured soloist on tenor saxophone and flute. The two groups recorded 23 albums, toured in North America, Asia and Europe and, after the move to New York, had regular performances at the jazz club Birdland before disbanding in 2003. The bands' recordings received several Grammy nominations and regularly scored high in Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls.
Mosaic Select: Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band is a 3 CD compilation album released by Mosaic Records in October 2008 and is composed of the first five studio albums recorded by the LA-based Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. It is volume 33 of the "Mosaic Select" series and includes the complete contents of the previously released RCA / Victor recordings, Kogun (1974), Long Yellow Road (1975), Tales of a Courtesan (Oirantan) (1976), Insights (1976), and March of the Tadpoles (1977).
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