RIP: Bud Shank

    From the Los Angeles Times:

     Bud Shank, the alto saxophonist who was a key figure in the West Coast jazz scene of the 1950s, has died. He was 82.
     Shank died Thursday night at his home in Tucson of pulmonary failure, friends said. 

     A versatile musician with an adventurous nature, Shank also played flute and -- during a productive period of studio work -- had pivotal solos on the popular 1960s pop tunes "California Dreamin' " by the Mamas and the Papas and "Windy" by the Association. He had an early interest in music without borders, playing and recording with Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida several years before the Bossa Nova craze. In 1962, he recorded an album with Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar. 

     For many, however, he is best known for his work in Los Angeles with Stan Kenton starting in the late 1940s, followed by his association with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars at the fabled Lighthouse Cafe jazz club in Hermosa Beach. 

     Shank joined the Lighthouse All-Stars in August 1953 and stayed with them until early January 1956.
     According to jazz writer Doug Ramsey, who wrote an essay that became the booklet for the Mosaic label boxed set "The Pacific Jazz Bud Shank Studio Sessions," Shank's major contribution to the All-Stars was as a "first-rank alto player." 
     "But he also played flute to Bob Cooper's oboe," Ramsey said. "He and Cooper did an album playing flute and oboe, and from that point on the flute became a substantial part of his arsenal." 

     For much of his career, Shank believed that the musical accomplishments of the West Coast jazz era -- his own and his colleagues' -- were underappreciated. His playing over the last 30 years took on a harder-edged, more powerful sound more reminiscent of Phil Woods than Lee Konitz. He also dropped the flute and concentrated primarily on the alto sax. 
     His last gig in the Los Angeles area was at the Jazz Bakery in January.