Phil Woods, one of the greatest masters of bop vocabulary was a true artist. He developed his own sound in the mid-’50s. He remained true to his musical roots throughout a long and productive career. He was a top alto saxophonist in jazz and it was clear that he never lost his enthusiasm or creativity. Woods was 12 years old when he began playing seriously. His uncle left him his first alto. Woods gigged and studied locally until 1948 when he moved to New York. Woods was a student of Lennie Tristano at Juilliard and at Manhattan School of Music. He majored in clarinet. Woods worked with Charlie Barnet (1954), Jimmy Raney (1955) and George Wallington (1958-1959), the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra (1959-1961), Buddy Rich (1958-1959), Quincy Jones (1959-1961) and Benny Goodman (1962’s famous tour of the Soviet Union). He also led his own groups from 1955 to 1955, including the co-leadership in a group with Gene Quill, logically called “Phil.”
