Tony Campise

Campise was born and raised in Houston, Texas and early on had studied with Hal Tennyson at the age of 13 on alto sax and clarinet. He also studied with the famed Woody Herman jazz sideman Jerry Coker learning improvisation when he was 18, Campise also studied briefly with Lee Konitz. He studied flute and oboe extensively with Byron and Barbara Hester in the 1960s; most notably he studied flute with Julius Baker in New York during the late 1960s in hopes of becoming a classical flutist.

His formal musical education came in his college years while attending Sam Houston State University, the University of Houston, Houston Baptist College, and Monterey Peninsula College during the late 1960s and early 1970s.Feather, Leonard. Gitler, Ira. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz Oxford University Press. Entry for Tony Campise

Campise's saxophone style was eloquent, warm, and personal on ballads while muscular on up tempo jazz pieces (and sometimes quite frenetic);Sparke, Michael. (2010) "Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra!" University of North Texas Press. pp. 263. he was a devotee of the "Texas Tenor" jazz styles of Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet.Koster, Rick. Texas Music (1998) pub. Macmillan. pp.327Cooper, Dr. Jack. (Director of Jazz Studies, University of Memphis). As a saxophonist and arranger; played with, wrote for, and interviewed Tony Campise while living in Austin, Texas 1995–1998 The more modern and avant-garde influence he demonstrates on the recordings with Stan Kenton show how influenced he was by saxophonist Eric Dolphy.Dicaire, David. Jazz Musicians, 1945 to the Present. (2006) McFarland & Comp. pp. 157 He was a native of Houston, Texas and developed a musical style and career thereTexas Monthly Magazine, December 1981. Pub. Emmis Communications. pp. 88 but eventually settled to Austin, Texas in 1984.

The influences Campise most closely attributed his own style to are jazz artists Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Lennie Tristano, and Eric Dolphy.

His first notable work as a saxophonist was in Houston working with Don Cannon (1962–65), Paul Schmitt (1967–71), the Gulf Coast Jazz Giants (1970–73) and working with the Houston Musical Theatre as a woodwind doubler for three seasons.

In early 1974 Stan Kenton's lead alto player John Park and altoist Jimmy Ford (who was from Houston and had been with Maynard Ferguson's band) recommended Tony Campise to Stan Kenton to take over for Park.Lee, William F. "Artistry in Rhythm" (1994), Publ. Creative Press of Los Angeles. pp. 455 Starting in early 1974 Campise started on the road with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the lead alto saxophone chair and recorded as a featured soloist the on LPs Stan Kenton Plays Chicago (1974), and Fire, Fury & Fun (1975).Sparke, Michael; Venudor, Peter (1998) "Stan Kenton, The Studio Sessions". Balboa Books. pp. 210–213. {{ISBN|0-936653-82-5}} As noted by Stan Kenton, Campise was very popular with the public as a featured soloist during that time. Kenton himself is also quoted, "...Campise has such tremendous technique he can't help but use it. He would take a lot of wild chances and scare guys to death, the things he would get going on that horn." Kenton bandmate Dick Shearer probably best sums up Tony Campise's prowess as a world-class musician and jazz soloist, "Campise probably knew more about saxophone than anyone I've ever heard in my life. Technically he knew how to do everything, and he could change styles: if he wanted to sound like Johnny Hodges or Lee Konitz...he could do that very easily."

Tony Campise performed in the jazz clubs in and around 6th Street in Austin, and also backed artists such as Frank Sinatra, The Manhattan Transfer, and Sarah Vaughan starting in 1984 where he finally settled. He recorded five albums in the 1990s; his 1991 album Once in a Blue Moon was nominated for a Grammy in the jazz category. During this time he was a featured artist at venues such as the Newport Jazz FestivalNew York Magazine, June 14, 1993, pp. 85

Campise died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He had never fully recovered from an October 2009 fall outside a Corpus Christi, Texas hotel, when he hit the back of his head. The urn containing his remains is currently displayed in a prominent glass case at the top of the stage pillar in Austin's Elephant Room jazz club, where he frequently performed as a musician. Above the urn is painted in large black letters on white background: "THE REMAINS OF TONY CAMPISE", a play on one of his common self-introductions: "...and I am the remains of Tony Campise".{{cite news |url=http://www.viewpointrecords.com/html/artist_tony_campise_jazzbarsandbattlescars.html |title=Tony Campise – Jazz Bars and Battle Scars}}

• Tony Campise (Ram/American Record Co., 1980)
• Picture This (American Record Co., 1980)
• First Takes (Heart, 1990)
• ''Once in a Blue Moon (Heart, 1991)
• Ballads, Blues & Bebop (Heart, 1993)Welburn, Ron. Review: JazzTimes Magazine. Dec 1994. pp. 143
• Ballads, Blues, Bebop & Beyond (Heart, 1994)
• Strange Beauty (Heart, 1995)Review: Cadence Magazine, Volume 22, Issues 1–6. Jan. 1996. pp. 97

• [http://www.heartmusic.com/tony/tony_home.html Heart Music]
• {{AllMusic|id=p6234|label=Tony Campise}}
• [http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2010/03/07/sax_great_tony_campise_dies.html obituary at Austin360.com]

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Category:American jazz saxophonists

Category:American male saxophonists

Category:Musicians from Houston

Category:Bebop saxophonists

Category:1943 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:Jazz musicians from Houston

Category:Jazz musicians from Texas

Category:American male jazz musicians

Category:20th-century American saxophonists