Cecil Payne

Infobox musical artist
Name = Cecil Payne

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Img_capt = Cecil Payne at the Kitano Hotel Jazz Club, NYC on June 11, 2005
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Landscape = yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Cecil Payne
Alias =
Born = birth date|1922|12|14
Died = death date and age|2007|11|27|1922|12|14
Origin = Brooklyn, New York, United States
Instrument = Baritone saxophone
Alto saxophone
Flute
Voice_type =
Genre = Bop
Hard bop
Occupation = Saxophonist
Flautist
Years_active =
Label = Delmark Records
Associated_acts = Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Weston
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Cecil Payne (December 14, 1922 – November 27, 2007) was a jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute. He played with other jazz greats, in particular Dizzy Gillespie and Randy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader.

Biography

Early life

Payne received his first saxophone at age 13, asking his father for one after hearing "Honeysuckle Rose" by Count Basie, performed by Lester Young. Payne took lessons from a local alto sax player, Pete Brown.

Career

Payne began his professional recording career with J. J. Johnson on the Savoy label in 1946. During that year he was also began playing with Roy Eldridge, through whom he met Dizzy Gillespie. His earlier recordings would largely fall under the swing category, until Gillespie hired him. Payne stayed onboard until 1949, heard performing solos on "Ow!" and "Stay On It". In the early 1950s he found himself working with Tadd Dameron, and worked with Illinois Jacquet from 1952 to 1954. He then started freelance work in New York and frequently performed during this period with Randy Weston, with whom Payne worked with until 1960. [cite book| last = Gitler| first = Ira| authorlink = | title = The Masters of Bebop: A Listener's Guide| publisher = Da Capo Press| date = 2001| page = 40, 41| doi = | isbn = 0306810093] Payne was still recording regularly for Delmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his seventies, and indeed on into the new millennium.

Personal life

Payne was a cousin of trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, whom he recorded with briefly. [cite book| last = Yanow| first = Scott| authorlink = Scott Yanow| title = Trumpet Kings: The Players Who Shaped the Sound | publisher = Backbeat Books| date = 2001| page = 49| doi = | isbn = 0879306084] Aside from his career in music Payne helped run his father's real estate company during the 1950s. ["Ibid"; Gitler, Ira] Payne once said that his parents urged him to consider dentistry as a career. He countered their suggestion by pointing out that no one would ever entrust his or her teeth to a "Dr. Payne." [Cecil Payne at the Up Over Jazz Cafe, Brooklyn, N.Y. 2000]

Partial Discography

* Randy Weston "Jazz a la Bohemia" (1956) The Randy Weston Trio plus Payne
*"Patterns of Jazz" (1957) his debut album Savoy Records
*"Performing Charlie Parker Music" (1961) (Collectables)
*1973: "Zodiac" (Strata-East Records)
*"Cerupa" (1993) (Delmark-478)
*"Scotch and Milk" (1997) (Delmark DE-494)
*"Payne's Window" (1999) (Delmark DE-509)
*"The Brooklyn Four Plus One" (1999) (Progressive)
*"Chic Boom: Live at the Jazz Showcase" (2001) (Delmark DE-529) with tenor player Eric Alexander.
*John Coltrane ""Dakar"" 1957

References