Cecil Payne | |
|---|---|
 Payne at the Kitano Hotel Jazz Club, NYC on June 11, 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Cecil Payne |
| Born | (1922-12-14)December 14, 1922 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 27, 2007(2007-11-27) (aged 84) Stratford, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
|
| Labels | Delmark |
Cecil Payne (December 14, 1922 – November 27, 2007)[1] was an Americanjazz baritone saxophonist born inBrooklyn, New York. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute. He played with other prominent jazz musicians, in particularDizzy Gillespie andRandy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader.
Payne received his first saxophone aged 13, asking his father for the instrument after hearing "Honeysuckle Rose" performed byCount Basie withLester Young soloing. Payne took lessons from a local alto sax player,Pete Brown, and studied atBoys High School,Bedford-Stuyvesant.[2]
Payne began his professional recording career withJ. J. Johnson on theSavoy label in 1946. During that year he also began playing withRoy Eldridge, through whom he metDizzy Gillespie. His earlier recordings would largely fall under theswing category, until Gillespie hired him. Payne stayed on board until 1949, heard performing solos on "Ow!" and "Stay On It". In the early 1950s, he found himself working withTadd Dameron, and worked withIllinois Jacquet from 1952 to 1954. He then started freelance work in New York City and frequently performed during this period withRandy Weston, whom Payne worked with until 1960.[3] Payne was still recording regularly forDelmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his 70s, and indeed on into the new millennium.
Payne was a cousin of trumpeterMarcus Belgrave, with whom he recorded with briefly.[4] Aside from his career in music, Payne helped run his father'sreal estate company during the 1950s.[3] 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".[5]
He died inStratford, New Jersey, from prostate cancer at the age of 84.[1]
