[Dixielandjazz] Fw: NYTimes.com Article: Allen Eager Is Dead at 76; Sax Player of the Bebop Era

[Stan Brager]

While not everyone's cup of tea or latte, Allen Eager was one of the top
tenor players I admired which I was growing up.

Stan
Stan Brager
Trombonist-in-Training
----- Original Message ----- 


> This article from NYTimes.com
>
> Allen Eager Is Dead at 76; Sax Player of the Bebop Era
>
> June 1, 2003
>
> Allen Eager, a top saxophonist during the bebop era who
> after a short career quit jazz for the high life in Europe
> and elsewhere, died on April 13 in Daytona Beach, Fla. He
> was 76.
>
> The cause was liver cancer, his daughter Omine said.
>
> Mr.
> Eager was, with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Al Cohn and others,
> part of the wave of saxophonists in the late 1940's
> influenced by Lester Young, and he played frequently in the
> clubs on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. He was praised by
> critics for his swinging ease and natural tone, and had the
> rare distinction of being a white saxophonist often
> employed by black bandleaders, including Fats Navarro,
> Coleman Hawkins, Tadd Dameron and Charlie Parker.
>
> But by the mid-50's, after leading his own group and
> playing with Gerry Mulligan and Buddy Rich, Mr. Eager
> disappeared from the scene. He later blamed Parker's death
> in 1955 for his departure. "After Charlie Parker died, jazz
> just went down the tubes as far as being a vital force," he
> told The Orlando Sentinel in 1993. He also acknowledged the
> ravages of drugs.
>
> By 1956 Mr. Eager was living in Paris, where he hobnobbed
> with celebrities and became engaged. He skied and raced
> cars, and in 1961 he and his racing partner Denise
> McCluggage placed at Sebring, a 12-hour endurance race in
> Florida.
>
> Mr. Eager settled in Florida in the late 60's and raised a
> family, making periodic returns to the music business. He
> recorded a comeback album, <object.title class="Movie"
> idsrc="nyt_ttl"
> value="137404">"Renaissance,"</object.title> for the Uptown
> label in 1982 and toured with Dizzy Gillespie.
>
> In addition to his daughter, Ms. Eager of Miami, he is
> survived by his former wife, Nancy, of Homestead, Fla.; a
> son, Jacob, of Miami; another daughter, Zoe Griffin of
> Roswell, Ga.; and two granddaughters.
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/01/obituaries/01EAGE.html?ex=1055504021&ei=1&en=6024037dccf61863
>
>
> Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
>