Paul Quinchette

Paul Quinichette was known throughout the course of his career as “Vice Prez” due to the way he sounded like Lester Young. Young’s followers copied his style of the ’30s, but Quinichette sounded more like Lester Young in the 1950s. Quinichette performed with Jay McShann from 1942-1944 after gaining experience with Nat Towles and Lloyd Sherock. He was on the West Coast playing with Johnny Otis (1945-1947), and he traveled to New York with Louis Jordan. There he performed with Lucky Millinder (1948-1949), Red Allen (1949-1949), and Hot Lips Page. Quinichette worked with Count Basie from 1952-1953, when Basie had reformed his orchestra. He also recorded with Billie Holiday and was on his own during a session with John Coltrane. Quinichette was a leader of his own group during the 1950s and recorded several great records, even though they were clearly derivative. After leaving music in the 1950s to become an engineer in electrical engineering, Quinichette briefly returned to jazz in the 1970s. He played with Sammy Price, Brooks Kerr and Buddy Tate, before being forced to quit due to poor health. Allmusic

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