Sahib Shihab


Sahib Shihab was an American jazz and hard bop saxophonist and flautist. He variously worked with Luther Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Fletcher Henderson, Tadd Dameron, and Dizzy Gillespie amongst others.

Biography

Edmund Gregory first played alto saxophone professionally for Luther Henderson at age 13 and went on to study at the Boston Conservatory and to play with trumpeter Roy Eldridge. He played lead alto with Fletcher Henderson in the mid 1940s.
He was one of the first jazz musicians to convert to Islam and changed his name in 1947. During the late 1940s, Shihab played with Thelonious Monk and on July 23, 1951 he recorded with Monk for the Lp. During this period, he also appeared on recordings by Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham and Benny Golson. The invitation to play with Dizzy Gillespie's big band in the early 1950s was of particular significance as it marked Shihab's switch to baritone.
On August 12, 1958, Shihab was one of the musicians photographed by Art Kane in his famous photograph known as "A Great Day in Harlem". In 1959, he toured Europe with Quincy Jones after getting disillusioned with racial politics in United States and ultimately settled in Scandinavia. He worked for Copenhagen Polytechnic and wrote scores for television, cinema and theatre.
In 1961, he joined the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band and remained a member of the band for the 12 years it existed. He married a Danish woman and raised a family in Europe, although he remained a conscious African-American still sensitive to racial issues.
In the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, Shihab accompanied Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson on stage for the Swedish entry "Nygammal Vals".
In 1973, Shihab returned to the United States for a three-year hiatus, working as a session man for rock and pop artists and also doing some copy writing for local musicians. He spent his remaining years between New York and Europe and played in a partnership with Art Farmer.
From 1985-86, Shihab was a visiting artist at Rutgers University.
Shihab died on October 24, 1989, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, aged 64.

Discography

As leader

With Art Blakey
With Brass Fever
With Donald Byrd
With Betty Carter
With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band
With John Coltrane
With Tadd Dameron
  • Fontainebleau
With Art Farmer
  • Manhattan
With Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes
  • Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns - also released as Baritones and French Horns
With Dizzy Gillespie
  • Jazz Recital
  • The Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Big Band
With Benny Golson
With Johnny Griffin
  • Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz
  • Griff 'N Bags
With George Gruntz
  • Noon in Tunisia
With Roy Haynes
  • Jazz Abroad
With Milt Jackson
  • Plenty, Plenty Soul
With Philly Joe Jones
With Quincy Jones
  • The Birth of a Band!
  • The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones
  • I Dig Dancers
  • Quincy Plays for Pussycats
With Abbey Lincoln
With Howard McGhee
With Thelonious Monk
  • '
With Phineas Newborn, Jr.
  • Phineas Newborn, Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica
With Oscar Pettiford
With Specs Powell
  • Movin' In
With A. K. Salim
  • Blues Suite
With Tony Scott
With Mal Waldron
  • Mal-2
With Julius Watkins and Charlie Rouse
  • The Jazz Modes
With Randy Weston
  • Uhuru Afrika
With Gene Quill, Hal Stein and Phil Woods
  • Four Altos ]
With Phil Woods
  • Rights of Swing
With Idrees Sulieman'