Al_Sears Knowpia

Al Sears
Al Sears
	Al Sears (left) with Johnny Hodges, 1946
Background information
Birth name	Albert Omega Sears
Born	February 21, 1910; Macomb, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 23, 1990 (aged 80); St. Albans, New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Saxophone

Albert Omega Sears (February 21, 1910 – March 23, 1990)^[1] was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader, sometimes credited as Big Al Sears.

Sears was born in Macomb, Illinois, United States.^[2] His first major gig came in 1928 when he replaced Johnny Hodges in Chick Webb's ensemble.^[2] Following this he played with Elmer Snowden (1931–32), then led his own groups between 1933 and 1941.^[2] In the early 1940s he was with Andy Kirk (1941–42) and Lionel Hampton (1943-44) before he became a member of Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1944, replacing Ben Webster.^[2] He remained with Ellington until 1949,^[2] when first Jimmy Forrest and then Paul Gonsalves took over his chair. He played with Johnny Hodges in 1951–52 and recorded the tune "Castle Rock" with him;^[2] the tune became a hit but was released under Hodges's name.

Sears was in Alan Freed's band when Freed did live shows, being introduced as "Big Al Sears."^[2] He played as a studio musician on R&B albums in the 1950s and recorded two albums for Swingville in 1960. He also owned several record labels, including Arock, Serock, and Gator.^[1]

In 1990, he died in St. Albans, New York, at the age of 80.^[1]

Discography edit

As leader edit

Grade A Dance Music with a Swing Beat (Audio Lab, 1960)
Swing's the Thing (Prestige, 1960)
Rockin' in Rhythm with Taft Jordan and Hilton Jefferson as the Swingville All-Stars (Prestige, 1960)
Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Swingville, 1961)

As sideman edit

Mildred Anderson, No More in Life (Prestige, 1961)
Aretha Franklin, Aretha (Columbia, 1961)
Al Hibbler, After the Lights Go Down Low (Atlantic 1957)
Johnny Hodges, Castle Rock (Norgran, 1955)
Johnny Hodges, In a Tender Mood (Norgan, 1955)
Budd Johnson, Blues a la Mode (Felsted, 1958)
Jimmy Witherspoon, Goin' to Kansas City Blues (RCA Victor, 1958)

References edit

^ ^a ^b ^c Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues – A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 135. ISBN 978-0313344237.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2215. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.