John Handy


John Richard Handy III is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone, although he also plays tenor and baritone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe, and also sings.

Biography

Handy first came to prominence while working for Charles Mingus in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Handy led several groups, among them a quintet with Michael White, violin, Jerry Hahn, guitar, Don Thompson, bass, and Terry Clarke, drums. This group's performance at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival was recorded and released as an album; Handy received Grammy nominations for "Spanish Lady" and "If Only We Knew".
Handy has taught music history and performance at San Francisco State University, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
In the 1980s he worked in the project Bebop & Beyond, which recorded tribute albums to Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. His son, John Richard Handy IV, is a drummer who has played with Handy on occasion.

Discography

As leader

With Brass Fever
With Charles Mingus
With Mingus Dynasty