Benny Waters, who died at the age 96, was not only the oldest jazz musician alive (to Eubie Blake, who reached 100), but also a formidable altoist. He would have been considered remarkable if he had been only 50. Waters’ life covered almost all of the history of recorded jazz. However, he never became a big name. From 1918-1921, he worked with Charlie Miller, studied at The New England Conservatory and became a teacher. Harry Carney was one of his students, which is remarkable. Waters was a member of Charlie Johnson’s Paradise Ten (1925-1932), a group that included Benny Carter, Jabbo Smith, and arranged and recorded their music. Waters was a tenor and sometimes clarinetist, but he was primarily a tenor player. He recorded in the 1920s with King Oliver and Clarence Williams. Waters was a member of many groups over the next 20 years, including Hot Lips Page, Claude Hopkins and Jimmie Lunceford. He led his own unit in the 1940s and played with Roy Milton’s RO.
