Gary Smulyan

Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan is an adept improviser with a big, warm sound and lithe, swinging style in the <a href="spotify:artist:7fSCq6nVoFiyBqFD8fQFWR">Pepper Adams</a> tradition. Born in Bethpage, New York in 1956, Smulyan first started out on the alto saxophone as a teenager and gained early experience sitting in with such luminaries as saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Lee Konitz</a>, trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3rxeQlsv0Sc2nyYaZ5W71T">Chet Baker</a>, violinist <a href="spotify:artist:3xWwQd62jKa0Ph7evZFayV">Ray Nance</a>, and others. After high school, he honed his skills studying at SUNY-Potsdam and Hofstra University before getting a call to join <a href="spotify:artist:2KSxJY1WxGGVYSmoM0N54P">Woody Herman's Big Band</a> playing the baritone sax chair. With no experience on the bari, Smulyan quickly purchased an instrument and hit the road. For much of the late '70s, he toured with <a href="spotify:artist:2KSxJY1WxGGVYSmoM0N54P">Herman</a>'s band, playing alongside such luminaries as saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:36YE6h8aN09ZKG4EhneDSf">Joe Lovano</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3AT9157jK9F2gMSViMdRUH">Marc Johnson</a>, and drummer John Riley. Although he initially thought of himself as a die-hard altoist, during his years with <a href="spotify:artist:2KSxJY1WxGGVYSmoM0N54P">Herman</a> he developed a distinct sound on the baritone, and by the early '80s it had become his primary instrument.

Moving to New York City in 1981, Smulyan quickly established himself as a reliable sideman, playing regularly with such ensembles as <a href="spotify:artist:5iqgiLoStMoBRTwmwx3OPh">the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:54YNxT02JdAApvFBhD8ea0">the Mingus Big Band</a>, and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra; associations that eventually led to his long-running membership in <a href="spotify:artist:5X6ELFlxtOjIwtiyj4ZHda">the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra</a>. He has also played with a bevy of highly regarded solo performers including <a href="spotify:artist:5RzjqfPS0Bu4bUMkyNNDpn">Dizzy Gillespie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0fTHKjepK5HWOrb2rkS5Em">Freddie Hubbard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5olDKSsFhhmwh8UCWwKtpq">Chick Corea</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1eYhYunlNJlDoQhtYBvPsi">Ray Charles</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6SPpCqM8gOzrtICAxN5NuX">Tito Puente</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5xLSa7l4IV1gsQfhAMvl0U">B.B. King</a>, and many more. Along with performing, Smulyan is a gifted educator -- a faculty member of Amherst College and the artistic director at the Berkshire Hills Music Academy in South Hadley, Massachusetts

As a leader, Smulyan made his debut in 1991 with The Lure of Beauty on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Criss+Cross%22">Criss Cross</a>, featuring pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6Zq5ky484xYTgxE6dQ8yHh">Mulgrew Miller</a> and trombonist <a href="spotify:artist:4MCNElwTJzuZgfIIZhB2Yo">Jimmy Knepper</a>. Another Criss Cross date, Homage, also appeared that year and featured pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6dUZplQfg5blo0h9HiJ94d">Tommy Flanagan</a>. More well-received <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Criss+Cross%22">Criss Cross</a> albums followed including 1993's Saxophone Mosaic with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:6HAwEMXs6wBDDAY3MDuo8i">Dick Oatts</a>, 1996's With Strings, and 2000's Blue Suite, which showcased his brass ensemble featuring trumpeters <a href="spotify:artist:1kA2mC9dJZrBh23SpyIG6Q">Scott Wendholt</a> and Greg Gisbert, French horn player <a href="spotify:artist:4Rnq4kzKhsngtlvmaPYLWJ">John Clark</a>, tubist <a href="spotify:artist:1j6ZqtSr1Y94DjLnQdUnUl">Bob Stewart</a>, and trombonist John Mosca. Also in 2000, he joined longtime associate <a href="spotify:artist:36YE6h8aN09ZKG4EhneDSf">Joe Lovano</a> for 52nd Street Themes on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a>.

In 2003, Smulyan led the hard-swinging quintet date Real Deal with trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:4mkcf39pQB23yEXGGuFH0f">Joe Magnarelli</a> and pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5HOZypv3IkaUfwr6UwhOX7">Mike LeDonne</a>. Hidden Treasures, with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5ACxPOI9gR3l0cyy2dvkHv">Christian McBride</a>, followed in 2006. Three years later, he paid tribute to late vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:3cgO5CdhEHKMxldjZlP5ix">Frankie Laine</a> on High Noon: The Jazz Soul of Frankie Laine. He then paired again with <a href="spotify:artist:5HOZypv3IkaUfwr6UwhOX7">LeDonne</a> (this time on Hammond B-3), and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:5vCIoZWrnWUkjCKmtaADQc">Peter Bernstein</a> for the soulful Smul's Paradise in 2012. The Italian-themed Bella Napoli with Sopranos-actor/singer <a href="spotify:artist:2c5NFI2Q8LXaV9UjMj8QqB">Dominic Chianese</a> appeared the following year. In 2017, Smulyan released the concert album Royalty at le Duc, which showcased his quartet live at Le Duc des Lombards in Paris. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi