Paul Gonsalves, (July 12, 1920(1920-07-12) - May 15, 1974) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Gonsalves made his name at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival with an arresting, 27-chorus solo in the middle of Duke Ellington's performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" (see sub-section below).
Early career
Born in Brockton, Massachusetts to Cape Verdean parents, Gonsalves' first instrument was the guitar, and as a child he was regularly asked to play Portuguese folk songs for his family.
He grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts and came to local renown as a member of the Sabby Lewis Orchestra. His first professional engagement in Boston was with the same group on tenor saxophone, in which he played before and after his military service during World War II.
Before joining Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1950, he had also played with the big bands of Count Basie (1947-1949) and Dizzy Gillespie (1949-1950).
Newport 1956
Linking two of Ellington's late-1930s blues compositions ("Diminuendo in Blue," "Crescendo in Blue"), the Gonsalves performance had been seeded a few years earlier, after Ellington had shelved his first idea for conjoining the two songs, a wordless-vocal interlude called "Transblucency." The Gonsalves "Wailing Interval" seems to have been performed first at Birdland in New York City, on June 30, 1951. As with Newport 1956, there are 27 or 28 choruses of Gonsalves' solo. Furthermore it could be argued that the Birdland performance far surpasses that of Newport 1956 as an example of Gonsalves' power and inventiveness as a blues soloist.
But it was the Newport 1956 performance that made the headlines. Staying tightly on the beat, repeating certain theme lines he improvised along the way without overdoing them, and accompanied only by Ellington at the piano, bassist Jimmy Woode, and drummer Sam Woodyard, Gonsalves had kicked the audience into a slowly swelling round of noisy applause and cheering by the seventh chorus that didn't let up for the remainder of the piece. Even more mayhem erupted when a platinum blonde jumped out of her seat and started dancing frantically to Paul's solo.
So loud and excited had the crowd become that Ellington -- against the wishes of festival organisers, but knowing that stopping then might have caused a genuine riot -- shifted to some less rhythmically vigorous material to bring them back down. The performance became the centerpiece of a live Ellington album from the festival, resurrecting Ellington as a major attraction, and gave him (and, for time enough, Columbia Records's jazz catalog) the best-selling recording (Ellington at Newport) of his long and distinguished career.
It also made certain Ellington's forthcoming Time magazine feature, spearheading a profile on the apparent resurrection of jazz, would get almost as much attention as the band's acclaimed performance at Newport did. It guaranteed Ellington's longevity as a working bandleader and composer. (Years later, whenever he was asked about his earlier career, Ellington puckishly liked to reply, "Why, that was before my time. You know I was born at Newport.")
And, finally, it guaranteed that Gonsalves would be a major Ellington attraction for as long as he remained with the band, which was for the rest of Ellington's life. Gonsalves was a featured soloist in numerous Ellingtonian settings, but the memory of "Diminuendo" usually helped assure he'd be handed the job for any piece calling for an extended tenor saxophone solo. Gonsalves was also much liked as a personality; his friendliness with audiences, including an occasional habit of stepping down from the stage to play his horn directly to fans (and especially to young children), earned him the nickname "The Strolling Violins" within the Ellington organization.
Death
After a lifetime of addiction to alcohol and narcotics, Gonsalves died of a drug overdose in London a few days before Duke Ellington's death. Mercer Ellington refused to tell Duke of the passing of Gonsalves, fearing the shock might further accelerate his father's decline. Ellington and Gonsalves, along with trombonist Tyree Glenn, lay side-by-side in the same New York funeral home.
Discography
See Duke Ellington discography
The 1999 remaster/reissue of Ellington at Newport -- restored and expanded to include the entire, original concert (the original album was doctored with post-production studio overdubbing, including audience noise extracted from other portions of the evening dubbed onto "D & C") -- reintroduced the performance that made Gonsalves a household name.
as leader
- Cookin' (1957, Argo)
- Diminuendo, Crescendo and Blues (1958, RCA Victor)
- Ellingtonia Moods and Blues (1960, RCA Victor)
- Gettin' Together! (1961, Jazzland Records)
- Tenor Stuff (1961, Columbia Lansdowne Jazz) - with Harold Ashby
- Tell It the Way It Is! (1963, Impulse)
- Cleopatra - Feelin' Jazzy (1963, Impulse)
- Salt and Pepper (1963, Impulse) - with Sonny Stitt
- Rare Paul Gonsalves Sextet in Europe (1963, Jazz Connoisseur)
- Boom-Jackie-Boom-Chick (1964, Vocalion)
- Just Friends (1965, Columbia EMI) - with Tubby Hayes
- Change of Setting (1965, World Record Club) - with Tubby Hayes
- Jazz Till Midnight (1967, Storyville)
- Love Calls (1967, RCA) - with Eddie Lockjaw Davis
- Encuentro (1968, Fresh Sound)
- With the Swingers and the Four Bones (1969, Riviera)
- Humming Bird (1970, Deram)
- Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' (1970, Black Lion)
- Paul Gonsalves and his All Stars (1970, Riviera)
- Paul Gonsalves Meets Earl Hines (1970, Black Lion)
- Mexican Bandit Meets Pittsburgh Pirate (1973, Fantasy)
- Paul Gonsalves Paul Quinichette (1974)
External links
References
