Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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MARSH, Warne

(b 26 October 1927, Los Angeles CA; d there 18 December 1987) Tenor sax, composer. Marsh worked and studied with Lennie Tristano through the '60s and developed a similarly personal approach to harmony and time. His phrasing and placing of accents was always lucid but did not subscribe to any familiar jazz habits; as with other Tristano disciples, the goal was purely musical expression, which was over the heads of many listeners. He remained an underrated musician who made relatively few recordings. He went to the West Coast '66, began teaching '68, joined Supersax '72 and wrote some arrangements for it. Meanwhile he recorded with Joe Albany '57 on Riverside, tracks with Art Pepper on LP The Way It Was on Contemporary, etc. His own quartet Live In Hollywood '52 with Hampton Hawes was on Xanadu; tracks with pianist Ronnie Ball on Imperial, Kapp, Mode, Atlantic '56-7 included Music For Prancing '57, later a VSOP CD (and the Imperial LP included on Capitol CD Intuition with a classic Tristano session).

Marsh shared solos with Lee Konitz on Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre '59 on Verve (Konitz also studied with Tristano; see his entry for other albums with Marsh). Ne Plus Ultra '69 with Gary Foster on alto (b 25 May 1936, Leavenworth KS), First Symposium '72 with Foster and Clare Fischer were on Revelation. Duos with bassist Red Mitchell were Big Two on Storyville (made in Oslo), Duo '80 on Fresh Sound (NYC). All Music '76 on Nessa was made in Chicago during a Supersax tour, with drummer Jake Hanna, bassist Fred Atwood, Lou Levy (b 5 March 1928, Chicago; d 23 January 2001): one of the most reliable of modernist ensemble pianists and accompanists, 18 years with Peggy Lee), including tunes by Marsh, Konitz, Tristano, Levy. How Deep/How High included quartet tracks with Roy Haynes, Sam Jones, Sal Mosca on piano and duo tracks with Mosca, and Warne Out was a trio set; all these '77-9 tracks were combined on a Discovery CD as Noteworthy, adding three tracks from '56 with Ball and Ted Brown.

Unissued Copenhagen Studio Recordings '75 on Storyville captured a trio with Neils-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Alan Levitt on drums, finally issued '97. Quartet sets Star Highs '79 with Hank Jones, Mel Lewis, bassist George Mraz, and A Ballad Album '83 with Levy were on Dutch Criss Cross; sextet In Norway/Sax Of A Kind '83 was on Hot Club, duo Warne Marsh And Susan Chen '86 on Interplay (pianist Chen also studied with Tristano); Posthumous '85 on Interplay was a quartet with Chen. Back Home '86 was a quartet on Criss Cross, Jimmy Halperin playing second tenor on 'Two, Not One'; Two Days In The Life Of '87 on Storyville was a quartet with Ron Eschete on guitar.

Marsh collapsed on stage at Donte's Jazz Club while playing 'Out Of Nowhere'. He is still missed.