Search - Earl Bostic :: Story

A 106 track survey of alto sax player Bostic, a technical master of his instrument who cut his teeth with many jazz bands during the 1930s. He was to become a hugely influential player who had many hits during his '50s heyday with a jump blues and R&B stlye. All the hits are included and his full story is told in the 44 page booklet that also includes full session detail and rare photos. Greatly admired by fellow musicians for his mastery of the saxophone, Earl Bostic's mavellous alto sax was also one of the great and distinctive sounds of both R&B and pop music and his records became perennials on juke boxes everywhere. First recording with Lionel Hampton in 1939, he started leading his own regular large group in 1945, cutting back to a septet the following year, when he began recording regularly. His bands became important training grounds for up-and-coming jazzmen like John Coltrane, Blue Mitchell, Stanley Turrentine and Benny Golson although he achieved his early reputation with jumping R&B tunes and his biggest hits in the '50s with more sophisticated material.