Home » Jazz Musicians » John Handy
John Handy
John Handy - saxophone, vocals John Handy is an alto saxophonist who plays the tenor, saxello, baritone, clarinet, oboe and vocals. He is actually a consummate world musician and teacher who devoted his life to using music to elevate the human spirit. His soulful and fiery saxophone style is instantly recognizable to generations of jazz fans world-wide. As a performer and composer he continues to sweep audiences into ecstasy with his vast range of creative, emotional, and technical inventiveness. With a superb knowledge and practical experience with music of several cultures, he fuses, with each selection, a musical genre that is coherent, provocative, logical, and enjoyable. Known most readily as a saxophonist in jazz quartet and quintet settings, John Handy is also featured in solo, duets, and large ensembles ranging in size from big bands to concert bands, symphony orchestras, vocal groups, and choirs. As a singer, he brings a kind of storytelling narrative to the blues that is entertaining, educational, and moving; while his "up tempo" scat vocals could be compared to the best scat singers anywhere. He sings ballads with inventiveness that is rare among singers. John Handy has performed in the world’s great concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonic Auditorium, San Francisco Opera House, Davies Hall; the major performance venues including Tanglewood, Saratoga (NY), and Wolf Trap; and the pre-eminent jazz festivals including the Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Pacific Coast Jazz Festival; and international jazz festivals at Montreaux (Switzerland), Antibe (France), Berlin, (Germany) Cannes, (France) Yubari and Miyasaki (Japan) among others. His album and CD covers read like a who’s who of record labels - Columbia, ABC Impulse, Warner Brothers, Milestone, Roulette, Boulevard, Quartet (Harbor), MPS Records and many others. His most recent recordings are "John Handy Live at Yoshi’s" and "John Handy’s Musical Dreamland" (available only on Boulevard Records, Stuttgart, Germany) "Centerpiece," and "Excursion in Blue." Some of his earlier works have been reissued on CD - "John Handy: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival," "The Second John Handy Album," "New View," and "Projections." He recorded with Sonny Stitt, and recorded nine albums with Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop. John Handy has taught at San Francisco State University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, among others. He is a popular performer on university and college campuses where he also gives inspired lecture-demonstrations on the technical, academic, spiritual, and creative aspects of music, winning new converts to jazz.
Read moreTags
Charles Mingus: Mingus At Carnegie Hall (Deluxe Edition)
by Chris May
This 2-CD set takes the 1974 album Mingus At Carnegie Hall (Atlantic) and adds seventy minutes of previously unissued material recorded at the same concert. It is as worthwhile an addition to Charles Mingus' recorded legacy as 2020's previously unissued 2-CD set Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (Sunnyside). Why it has taken so long for either set to be released is anybody's guess. But at least we have them now. Mingus led many great bands ...
Continue ReadingJohn Handy Tribute At SFJAZZ
by Walter Atkins
John Handy Tribute SFJAZZ Miner Auditorium SFJAZZ Fifth Season Celebration San Francisco CA January 22, 2017 The SFJAZZ Center ignited its fifth season celebration with two extraordinary weeks that included the Dr. Martin Luther King Day Open House and the star studded Zakir Hussain Gala Night (covered here). There were tribute nights this week for legendary drummer Tony Williams, prominent Bay Area saxophonist Joe Henderson, and the late inaugural SFJAZZ ...
Continue ReadingJohn Handy at Yoshi's San Francisco
by Harry S. Pariser
John Handy Yoshi's San Francisco San Francisco, California August 31, 2014 If one thinks of iconic Bay Area musicians, saxophonist John Handy immediately comes to mind. Born in 1933 in Dallas, Texas, Handy is an accomplished horn player who, while best known for his work on alto, also plays tenor and baritone sax, oboe, clarinet and saxello. Due to his age, Handy plays only infrequently in public (most notably with visiting luminaries such ...
Continue ReadingSaxophone great John Handy plays Jazz at Pearl's, October 27-29
Source:
Rocket Words
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz calls John Handy one of the finest saxophonists of his generation." In fact, Handy's soulful and explosive saxophone style is instantly recognizable to generations of jazz fans world-wide.
For some, Handy is best known for his short but storied tenure in the Charles Mingus group in 1959, during which he participated significantly to several classic Mingus recordings, including Mingus Ah Um and Blues and Roots. To others, it's his storied appearance at the 1965 ...
read more
Manhattan School of Music Jazz Band to Perform Works by John Handy October 17
Source:
All About Jazz
MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC presents the Manhattan School Of Music Concert Jazz Band Justin DiCioccio, conductor Ben Bierman, narrator
Featuring a night of FREE innovative and rare performances of works by composer George Handy, with special guest narrator Ben Bierman.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 7:30 pm In the School's John C. Borden Auditorium
On Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 7:30pm, the Manhattan School of Music's Concert Jazz Band will host a ...
read more
John Handy's Original 1965 Live at Monterey Band + Henry Grimes at the Iridium July 13 - 18
Source:
All About Jazz
IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) NEW YORK, NY 10023 RESERVATIONS: 212-582-2121, www.iridiumjazzclub.com SHOW TIMES NIGHTLY AT 8:00, 10:00
July 13-18 JOHN HANDY 40TH ANNIVERSARY LIVE AT MONTERY 1965 FEATURING ALL THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THIS LEGENDARY RECORDING: JOHN HANDY-ALTO, MICHAEL WHITE-VIOLIN, TERRY CLARKE-DRUMS, DON THOMPSON-BASS, JERRY HAHN-GUITAR
Plus HENRY GRIMES TRIO WITH PERRY ROBINSON AND SPECIAL GUESTS ANDREW CYRILLE PLUS DAVE DOUGLAS ON TUESDAY, JULY ...
read more
John Handy Jazz Festival
Source:
All About Jazz
John Handy Quintet Reunion Performance Highlights Second Annual John Handy Jazz Festival At San Francisco State University
INFO: http://www.sfsu.edu/~allarts/handy/handy2000pr.html
SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2000 -- A special reunion performance by the legendary John Handy Quintet who gained fame at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival will highlight of the Second Annual John Handy Jazz Festival, presented September 7 through 10 at San Francisco State University. The festival will also feature performances by Randy Weston, Sir Roland Hanna, Kenny Drew Jr., Denise ...
read more