Introduction
Harvey Estrin (June 5, 1929—September 21, 2002) was an American jazz musician who played saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He played with many celebrated jazz musicians of the time, including Tommy Dorsey, J. J. Johnson, and Eddie Sauter/Bill Finegan Orchestra.
He also worked as a studio musician with John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Carly Simon, and Phoebe Snow.
Life and career
Harvey Estrin was born Sanford Harvey Estrin in Burlington, Vermont, on June 5, 1929.
He began his professional music career at the age of 17, playing alto saxophone with the Boyd Raeburn band. In the late 1940s/early 1950s, he recorded with Charlie Ventura and Johnny Bothwell Orchestra.
By the mid-1950s, Estrin began working in Eddie Sauter/Bill Finegan Orchestra. In 1954, he played clarinet and flute on their recording of the album Inside Sauter-Finegan accompanied by Sonny Russo, Tommy Mitchell (trombone); Bobby Nichols, Nick Travis (trumpet); Gene Allen (clarinet, baritone saxophone); Max Bennett (bass); Mousey Alexander (drums); Joe Venuto (marimba, bongos); Ralph Burns (piano, glockenspiel); Al Block (claves); and Wally Kane (tambourine).
In December 1954, with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, Estrin was the saxophone soloist on the album Liebermann: Concerto For Jazz Band And Symphony. Recorded in Symphony Hall in Chicago, the album was composed by Rolf Liebermann and Richard Strauss and conducted by Fritz Reiner. It was released in January 1955.
Estrin also played on trombonist Buddy Morrow's album "A Big Band Buddy" Studio And Live Recordings 1945-1957, which was released on CD in 2004.
In 1956, Estin played flute and alto saxophone on Echoes of Joy (Caravan Records) for Kent Harian And His Orchestra alongside Nick Travis, Billy Butterfield (trumpet); Sonny Russo, Rex Peer, Ollie Wilson (trombone); Tommy Mitchell (bass trombone); Andy Fitzgerald (clarinet & flute); Nat Pierce (piano); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Hal McKusick (alto sax); Al Cohn, Eddie Wasserman (tenor saxophone); Jerry Bruno (bass); Joe Venuto (drums); Jim Timmens, Bill Finegan, and Gil Evans(arrangement).
In 1958, Estrin worked with Sauter-Finegan Orchestra on two more albums—Straight Down The Middle and Ballando Con Sauter-Finegan (both on RCA Victor Records).
In 1965, he played reeds on trombonist/composer J. J. Johnson's album J.J.! with Bob Cranshaw (bass); Tony Studd, Tommy Mitchell (bass trombone); Grady Tate(drums); Hank Jones (piano); Budd Johnson, Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Oliver Nelson (reeds); Jimmy Cleveland (trombone); and Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Jimmy Maxwell, Joe Wilder, Thad Jones (trumpet). The same year, he recorded Monster with organist Jimmy Smith.
In 1967, Estrin joined the ABC Staff Orchestra and performed for many TV programs including The Dick Cavett Show and an episode of Guy Fraumeni's Afterschool Specials. He also worked for NBC on Great Ghost Tales (1961) and NBC Children's Theatre (1971).
In 1969, Estrin played tuba on Arif Mardin's album Glass Onion with Charlie Mariano (alto saxophone), Floyd Newman (baritone sax), Herb Pomeroy (trumpet), and Roger Hawkins (drums), among others.
Other recordings from the late 1960s include You Baby (Nat Adderley - 1969), Road Song (Wes Montgomery - 1968), At the Turn of the Century (Max Morath - 1969).
In the 1970s, Estrin made many more recordings, including Courage (Milton Nascimento - 1971), Wes Montgomery (Wes Montgomery - 1972), Soul Box (Grover Washington, Jr. - 1973), Symbiosis (Bill Evans and Claus Ogerman - 1974), Spectrum: New American Music, Volume IV (Stefan Wolpe - 1974), and Rupert Holmes (Rupert Holmes - 1975).
From 1976 to 1981, Estrin served as the music director of New York's 92nd Street Y Studio Orchestra, where he programmed the music of Sauter-Finegan.
Estrin also played in many Broadway musicals—William Shakespeare's King Lear (1956, starring Orson Welles and Geraldine Fitzgerald); Will Holt's Over Here! (1974-1975); and Alan Jay Lerner and Joseph Stein's Carmelina (1979). He also played solo saxophone with most major American ballet companies.
Estrin continued to make recordings in the 1980s—Impressions Of Virus (Teo Macero - 1980), Flight Of The Condor (Larry Elgart - 1981), A La Carte (Katsuhisa Hattori - 1987), Say When (J. J. Johnson - 1987), and Requiem For The Americas (Jonathan Elias - 1989).
Estrin recorded two concertos written for him, the Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra by Harold Farberman; and Churchill Downs Concerto (1970) written by Irwin Bazelon, for which he played flute, piccolo, clarinet, and alto saxophone.
Recognition
Estrin was named Most Valuable Player on Flute by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences four times.
Personal life
Estrin was married to Trudy Kane. They had three children—Glen, Mitchell, and Nancy.
Death
Estrin died from complications due to surgery on September 21, 2002, at age 73.
Video: The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra - Finegan's Wake (1954)