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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZPHILLIPS, Flip(b Joseph Edward Phillips, 26 Feb. '15, Brooklyn, NYC; d 17 Aug. 2001, Ft Lauderdale FL) Tenor sax. Played locally, then with Frankie Newton early '40s on clarinet, switched to tenor, with Benny Goodman '42, Wingy Manone and Red Norvo in '43, Woody Herman '44-6; toured with JATP '46-56, moved to Florida, gigging locally with Bill Harris etc and working a day job. He moved back to NYC and made a comeback '75; toured Europe '82. During his JATP years he did a lot of honking crowd-pleasing work, but like Illinois Jacquet his talent was always wider than that as his own albums showed, and his comeback was a welcome surprise to some ageing critics. He made nice sides on Signature '44-5, mostly with Herman sidemen, later collected as A Melody From The Sky; seven LPs on Clef or Verve of '49-52 material, then with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Buddy Rich '54, all long out of print (compilation of JATP tracks on Flip Wails). Then he played bass clarinet as well as tenor on quartets Flip In Florida '63 on Sue or Onyx, Phillips' Head '75 on Choice; he was also recorded at the Colorado Jazz Festival '71 by MPS/BASF. Further albums: Together '78 on Century with the Herman band; quartet Flipenstein '81 on Progressive, quintet And His Swedish Friends '82 on Swedish PHM, Mood Indigo '87 on Gemeni with Kenny Davern, A Real Swinger and A Sound Investment (with Scott Hamilton) on Concord '87-8, The Claw and Try A Little Tenderness on Chiaroscuro. Eightieth Birthday Party on Arbors video was an all-star big-band celebration. |