Introduction
Frank R. Strozier, Jr. (born June 13, 1937) is an American alto saxophonist renowned for his playing in the hard bop idiom.
Life and career
Strozier was born on June 13, 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned to play the piano. He grew up in a middle-class family. His father, Frank, Sr., was a pharmacist who owned a drug store and his mother, Mildred, worked as a clerk in the same drug store.
In 1954, he moved to Chicago, where he performed with Harold Mabern, George Coleman, and Booker Little (all, like Strozier, were from Memphis). He recorded with the MJT + 3 from 1959–1960 and led sessions for Vee-Jay Records.
After moving to New York, Strozier was briefly with the Miles Davis Quintet in 1963 (between the tenures of Hank Mobley and George Coleman) and also gigged with Roy Haynes. Later, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked with Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, and most notably the Don Ellis big band.
Returning to New York in 1971, Strozier worked with Keno Duke's Jazz Contemporaries, the New York Jazz Repertory Company, Horace Parlan, and Woody Shaw.
Discography
As leader
- Fantastic Frank Strozier (Vee-Jay, 1960)
- Long Night (Jazzland, 1961)
- March of the Siamese Children (Jazzland, 1962)
- Remember Me (SteepleChase, 1977)
- What's Goin' On (SteepleChase, 1978)
- Cool, Calm and Collected (Vee Jay, 1993)
As sideman
With Roy Haynes
- Cymbalism (New Jazz, 1963)
- People (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
With Shelly Manne
- Manne–That's Gershwin! (Capitol, 1965)
- Boss Sounds! (Atlantic, 1966)
- Daktari (Atlantic, 1967)
- Jazz Gunn (Atlantic, 1967)
- Perk Up (Concord Jazz, 1976)
With MJT+3
- Make Everybody Happy (Vee Jay, 1959)
- MJT + 3 (Vee Jay, 1961)
With Oliver Nelson
- Live from Los Angeles (Impulse!, 1967)
- Black, Brown and Beautiful (Flying Dutchman, 1970)
With others
- Steve Allen, Soulful Brass (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
- Chet Baker, Baby Breeze (Limelight, 1965)
- Don Ellis, Autumn (Columbia, 1968)
- Booker Ervin, Exultation! (Prestige, 1963)
- Johnny Griffin, The Big Soul-Band (Riverside, 1960)
- Louis Hayes, Variety Is the Spice (Gryphon, 1979)
- Stafford James, Stafford James Ensemble (Red, 1979)
- Sam Jones, Down Home (Riverside, 1962)
- Booker Little, Booker Little 4 and Max Roach (1958)
- Horace Parlan, Frank-ly Speaking (SteepleChase, 1977)
- Walter Perkins, Walter Perkins' MJT+3 (Vee Jay, 1959)
- Woody Shaw, Little Red's Fantasy (Muse, 1978)
- Sonny Stitt, Dumpy Mama (Flying Dutchman, 1975)
- The Three Sounds and the Oliver Nelson Orchestra, Coldwater Flat (Blue Note, 1968)
- McCoy Tyner, Today and Tomorrow (Impulse!, 1964)
- The Young Lions, The Young Lions (Vee Jay, 1960)