NEW YORK — Scottish-born baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley, a former member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and a founding member of Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, has died at age 86.
“For someone from another country and culture to exhibit the depth of belief that animated his sound was, and still is, truly miraculous,” Marsalis said in a JALC statement announcing Mr. Temperley’s death.
Born in 1929 in the Scottish mining town of Lochgelly, in Fife, Mr. Temperley moved to London when he was not quite 20 after successfully auditioning to play tenor sax in Tommy Sampson’s popular band.
In 1965, he moved to New York, where he became the first Scottish musician to make a big impact on the American jazz scene, performing and/or recording with Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Joe Henderson and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra.
