NEW YORK (AP) – Scottish-born baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley, a former member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and a founding member of Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, has died at age 86.
Temperley died Wednesday in New York City after battling cancer, said JALC public relations director Zooey T. Jones.
“For someone from another country and culture to exhibit the depth of belief that animated his sound was, and still is, truly miraculous,” Marsalis said in a JALC statement announcing Temperley’s death.
“From the coal mines of Scotland, to clubs and concert halls all over the world. Joe’s journey was epochal, and he did it with integrity, style, piss and vinegar. We will miss him deeply and his spirit will forever live on in the sound of our orchestra,” Marsalis said.
Born in 1929 in the Scottish mining town of Lochgelly, in Fife, Temperley moved to London when he was not quite 20 after successfully auditioning to play tenor sax in Tommy Sampson’s popular band. He gained prominence in Britain after switching to baritone sax when he joined Humphrey Lyttelton’s band in 1958.