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Jack Nimitz

{{short description|American jazz saxophonist (1930–2009)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Jack Nimitz

| image =

| birth_name = Jerome Nimitz

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|1|11}}

| birth_place = Washington, D.C.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|6|10 |1930|1|11 |mf=yes}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Baritone saxophone

| years_active = 1949–1990s

}}

Jack Nimitz (January 11, 1930 – June 10, 2009) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist, nicknamed "The Admiral" - a reference to Chester Nimitz.

Career

A native of Washington, D.C., Nimitz started on clarinet in his early teens before playing alto saxophone.{{cite book |last1=Koch |first1=Lawrence |last2=Kernfeld |first2=Barry |editor1-last=Kernfeld |editor1-first=Barry |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |date=2002 |publisher=Grove's Dictionaries |location=New York |isbn=1-56159-284-6 |page=156|volume=3 |edition=2 }}{{cite web |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=Jack Nimitz |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jack-nimitz-mn0000102624/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=3 August 2019}} During the 1950s he played baritone saxophone with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and Herbie Mann. He continued to play in big bands in the 1960s with Terry Gibbs and Gerald Wilson in addition to working in film and leading a quintet.

Nimitz was a founding member of Supersax in the early 1970s and remained with the band into the 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s he was a member of big bands led by Oliver Nelson and Bill Berry. He performed in the sextet of Frank Strazzeri and the sextet of Bud Shank in the 1990s. In 1997 he worked with Buddy Childers at the PizzaExpress Jazz Club in London.

A studio musician for much of his life, Nimitz recorded his first album as leader in the 1990s.

Death

The Jack Nimitz Quintet played its final performance on May 10, 2009, in Northridge, California. Nimitz died in Los Angeles at the age of 79 from complications due to emphysema.{{cite web|last1=Ricci|first1=Michael|title=Jack Nimitz Baritone Sax Player Dies|url=https://news.allaboutjazz.com/jack-nimitz-baritone-sax-player-dies.php|website=All About Jazz|access-date=28 November 2017|date=16 June 2009}}

Discography

=As leader=

  • Live at the Royal Palms Inn Volume 8 with Buddy Childers (Woofy, 1994)
  • Confirmation (Fresh Sound, 1995)
  • Live at Capozzoli's (Woofy Productions, 1997)

As sideman

With Terry Gibbs

  • The Exciting Terry Gibbs Big Band (Verve, 1961)
  • Explosion! (Mercury, 1962)
  • Flying Home (Volume 3) (Contemporary, 1988)
  • The Big Cat (Volume 5) (Contemporary, 1991)

With Woody Herman

  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 1 (Capitol, 1954)
  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 3 (Capitol, 1954)
  • Road Band! (Capitol, 1955)
  • The Woody Herman Band! (Capitol, 1955)
  • Woody Herman (Metro, 1965)

With Stan Kenton

With Steuart Liebig

  • No Train (Cadence, 1997)
  • Antipodes (Cadence, 2000)

With Shelly Manne

With Mark Murphy

With Oliver Nelson

With Lalo Schifrin

With Diane Schuur

  • Timeless (GRP, 1986)
  • Pure Schuur (GRP, 1991)
  • In Tribute (GRP, 1992)

With Bud Shank

With Supersax

  • Supersax Plays Bird (Capitol, 1973)
  • Salt Peanuts Supersax Plays Bird, Volume 2 (Capitol, 1974)
  • Supersax Plays Bird with Strings (Capitol, 1975)
  • Chasin' the Bird (MPS, 1977)
  • Dynamite !! (MPS, 1979)
  • Supersax & L.A. Voices Volume 2 (CBS, 1984)
  • Stone Bird (Columbia, 1988)

With Gerald Wilson

With others

References

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Category:1930 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:American jazz baritone saxophonists

Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C.

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Category:20th-century American saxophonists

Category:The Capp-Pierce Juggernaut members