Legendary jazz saxophonist David S. Ware has died at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey at age 62 after a long kidney illness. Ware spent most of his career in relative obscurity until he became a leader of the free jazz movement in the early 90s. He became one of the most lauded jazz men during that decade, with his notoriety expanding beyond jazz purists.
Ware was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. He attended the Berklee College of Music. He lived in New York City and worked as a cab driver for 14 years, but later relocated to Scotch Plains.
Legendary jazz saxophonist David S. Ware has died at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey at age 62 after a long kidney illness. Ware spent most of his career in relative obscurity until he became a leader of the free jazz movement in the early 90s. He became one of the most lauded jazz men during that decade, with his notoriety expanding beyond jazz purists.
Ware was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. He attended the Berklee College of Music. He lived in New York City and worked as a cab driver for 14 years, but later relocated to Scotch Plains.
Ware's 1971 debut album was produced by Abdul Hannah, an alto saxophonist from Boston. He recorded with drummer Andrew Cyrille, pianist Cecil Taylor, and drummer Marc Edwards in the late 1970s. His acclaimed quartet formed in the early 1990s. The quartet was originally composed of Ware, pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker and drummer Marc Edwards. The drum chair was later occupied by Whit Dickey, Susie Ibarra, and Guillermo E. Brown. Edwards, who still performs regularly today, went on to form his own free jazz groups, such as Marc Edwards Slipstream Time Travel. The quartet released a string of well-reviewed albums mostly on small record labels, but saxophonist Branford Marsalis signed Ware to two-album deal with Columbia Records in the late 1990s. In 2001 critic Gary Giddins described Ware's quartet as "the best small band in jazz today." Ware dissolved the quartet in about 2007, after the release of the album Renunciation. He later recorded albums for solo saxophone, and with several different supporting bands.
He will be missed.
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[many thanks to SoulTracker Sgt. Gary for passing on this information]
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