Don Menza

Don Menza is a powerful tenor saxophonist who, although able to effectively imitate most of the top stylists (from <a href="spotify:artist:0JM134st8VY7Ld9T2wQiH0">Coleman Hawkins</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>), has a distinctive sound of his own. Menza started playing tenor when he was 13. After getting out of the Army, he was with <a href="spotify:artist:6T4kUHIlszpj944ZXR3yNw">Maynard Ferguson's Orchestra</a> (1960-1962) as both a soloist and an arranger. A short stint with <a href="spotify:artist:27hSR8e34ZM5vj5fUFixyb">Stan Kenton</a> and a year leading a quintet in Buffalo preceded a period living in Germany (1964-1968). After returning to the U.S., he was with <a href="spotify:artist:1pVtwG5Up1OZOEpSHJ4AAs">Buddy Rich</a>'s big band in 1968, recording a famous solo on "Channel One Suite" that utilized circular breathing and was quite classic. He settled in California and has worked with <a href="spotify:artist:4dUMhhUjQ2YcNTvab29hYF">Elvin Jones</a> (1969), <a href="spotify:artist:1el0ImlpL5kq6eAHoodvOU">Louie Bellson</a>, as an educator, and in the studios. Don Menza, who has made far too few records, recorded as a leader for Saba (1965) in Germany, Discwasher (1979), Realtime, and Palo Alto (the latter two in 1981). ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi