Philip Wells Woods was born on November 2, 1931, and passed away on September 29, 2015. He was an American jazz musician who played the alto saxophone and clarinet, led music groups, and wrote music.
Biography
Phil Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. At age 12, he received a saxophone and began taking lessons from Harvey LaRose at a local music shop. He admired saxophonists Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges. Woods studied music with Lennie Tristano at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Juilliard School. His friend, Joe Lopes, taught him how to play the clarinet because Juilliard did not have a saxophone major at the time. Woods earned a bachelor’s degree in 1952. Although he did not copy Charlie Parker, Woods was called "New Bird," a nickname also used for other alto saxophone players like Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley.
In the 1950s, Woods started leading his own bands. Quincy Jones invited him to join Dizzy Gillespie on a world tour funded by the U.S. State Department. A few years later, Woods toured Europe with Jones, and in 1962, he toured Russia with Benny Goodman.
After moving to France in 1968, Woods led the European Rhythm Machine, a group that played avant-garde jazz. He returned to the United States in 1972. After an unsuccessful attempt to form an electronic music group, he created a quintet that continued performing, with some changes in members, until 2004. Woods often performed a piece titled "How's Your Mama?" as his theme.
Woods won the top alto sax player award nearly 30 times in DownBeat magazine's annual readers' poll. His quintet also received the top small combo award multiple times.
In 1979, Woods recorded the album More Live at Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. His most famous work as a sideman was his alto sax solo on Billy Joel’s 1977 song "Just the Way You Are." He also played the alto sax solo on Steely Dan’s "Doctor Wu" from their 1975 album Katy Lied and on Paul Simon’s "Have a Good Time" from the 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years.
Although Woods was primarily a saxophonist, he also played the clarinet. His clarinet solos appear on some of his recordings, such as his performance on "Misirlou" on the compilation album Into the Woods.
In 1978, Woods, along with Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert, founded the Celebration of the Arts (COTA) at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. The organization later became the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts. Its goal was to promote appreciation for jazz and its connection to other art forms. Each year, the group hosts the Celebration of the Arts Festival in September.
In 2005, Jazzed Media released the documentary Phil Woods: A Life in E Flat – Portrait of a Jazz Legend, directed by Rich Lerner and produced by Graham Carter.
Woods was married to Chan Parker, the common-law wife of Charlie Parker, for seventeen years and was the stepfather to Chan’s daughter, Kim. They divorced in 1973. In 1985, he married Jill Goodwin, the sister of his drummer Bill Goodwin. On September 4, 2015, Woods performed a tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and announced he would retire. He died three weeks later on September 29, 2015, from emphysema at the age of 83.
Awards
- Grammy Award for Best Jazz Group Performance: Images, 1975
- Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance (Solo or Group): Live from the Show Boat (1977), More Live (1982), At the Vanguard (1983)
- NEA Jazz Masters, 2007
Discography
- Altology (Prestige, 1976)[2LP] – recorded 1956–57
- Into the Woods (The Best of Phil Woods) (Concord, 1996)
- Moonlight In Vermont (CTI, 2005)[4CD]
- Complete Quintet And Sextet Sessions 1956-1957 (Fresh Sound, 2007)[2CD]
- Phil Woods (Red, 2019)
With the Modern Jazz Quartet
With George Wallington