Today is the 85th anniversary of the birth of alto saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank. One of the most respected of the musicians who flourished on the west coast in the fifties, he went on to gain worldwide popularity. Shank was especially popular in Brazil, whose music he was one of the first American jazz artists to adapt when he made the Brazilliance recordings with guitarist Laurindo Almeida in 1954. Here is a good way to remember him, in São Paulo in 2004, playing his composition “Carousels.†The rhythm section is one of Shank’s favorites, Bill Mays, Bob Magnusson and Joe La Barbera. (note: the sound track seems to be restricted to the right channel, but you can hear everything.)
Bud Shank died in April of 2009, hours after his final record session.