Lew Tabackin

Lew Tabackin is one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists and flutists in jazz, recognized for a tenor style built on wide intervals and abrupt shifts of mood and for helping establish the flute as a serious jazz solo voice. Born in 1940 in Philadelphia, he studied flute at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and privately with composer Vincent Persichetti before moving to New York, where he worked with players such as Tal Farlow, Duke Pearson, and Maynard Ferguson. In 1973 he co-founded the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi, serving as its principal soloist through 2003 as the ensemble became one of the most celebrated large jazz groups of its era. He was also a member of The Tonight Show Band under Doc Severinsen, and his flute playing earned repeated wins in DownBeat critics and readers polls.