- David Newman (jazz musician)
Infobox musical artist
Name = David "Fathead" Newman
Img_capt = David "Fathead" Newman appearing Live at the Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver.
Img_size =
Landscape = yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Davis Newman, Jr. [ [http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/navarro/vitals/births/1933/navab33b.txt Navarro Co. TX - Births, 1933] ]
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1933|2|24
Died =
Origin =Corsicana, Texas , U.S.
Instrument =Saxophone ,Flute
Voice_type =
Genre =Soul-jazz Hard bop Mainstream jazz Jazz blues
Occupation =Saxophonist
Years_active =
Labels =Atlantic Records ,Prestige Records
Associated_acts =Ray Charles ,Herbie Mann ,Stanley Turrentine
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =David "Fathead" Newman (born
February 24 ,1933 in Corsicana,Texas ) is an Americansaxophonist .His professional career began in 1954 as an original member of Ray Charles' Band.
Newman has had a prolific recording and performing career.
Newman got his
nickname inhigh school music class. Mr. Miller, his then music teacher, saw his music upside down on the stand, and knowing that Newman couldn't read music very well at the time, walked over and tapped him on his head with the conductor's baton and called him "Fathead." The entireclassroom laughed, and Newman, having goodhumor , did not find it derogatory.Fact|date=June 2007 The name has stuck with him ever since. But he, himself, has said he prefers to be called "David."He moved to
Dallas , where he graduated from Lincoln High School. After high school, he started playingflute andtenor saxophone at local shows. He then received ascholarship toJarvis Christian College , where he studiedtheology andmusic . Newman stayed in college for two years and decided to move onto the road to further his music career. He played and toured withBuster Smith , Charlie Parker's mentor, playing many one-nighters at dance halls all over thecentral United States .At one of these many gigs, David met
Ray Charles . There was an immediate bond between the two.In 1954, David joined Charles in his band as the
baritone saxophone player (although he is more famous as a tenor saxophone and flute player) and began a twelve year gig with Charles. He later joinedHerbie Mann , with whom he played for another ten years.Over the years up to 2008, Newman has recorded over thirty-eight albums under his own name, including his first, "Ray Charles-Presenting David "Fathead" Newman" (1959) and second, "Wide Open Spaces", which was produced by
Cannonball Adderley , the following year. Always a musicians' musician, Newman is best known for hishard bop style that has influenced wholegeneration s of saxophone players of different genres. He has also playedR&B and blues, appearing on recordings withStanley Turrentine ,Aretha Franklin ,B. B. King , theAverage White Band ,Jimmy McGriff ,Eric Clapton ,Natalie Cole ,Hank Crawford ,Aaron Neville ,Queen Latifah ,Richard Tee ,Dr. John ,Cheryl Bentyne ofThe Manhattan Transfer and country/tex-mex artistDoug Sahm .On January 22, 2008, Newman sat in as a guest with the CBS orchestra on the Late Show with David Letterman.
elected discography
*"Ray Charles-Presenting David "Fathead" Newman" - 1959 (Atlantic Records)
*"Wide Open Spaces" - 1960
*"Straight Ahead" - 1962 (Atlantic Records)
*"House of David" (Atlantic Records)
*"Captain Buckles" (Atlantic Records)
*"Live at the Village Gate" (Atlantic Records)
*"The Weapon" - 1972
*"Teasin"' - 1973 - Cornell Dupree
*"Mr. Fathead" - 1976 (Warner Bros. Records) including d track "Eboman"
*"Back To Basics" - 1977 (Milestone)
*"The Atlantic Family Live at Montreux " - 1977
*"Still Hard Times" - 1982 (Muse)
*"Fire! Live at the Village Vanguard" - 1988 (Atlantic Records)
*"Return to the Wide Open Spaces" - 1990
*"Mr. Gentle Mr. Cool" - 1994
*"Under a Woodstock Moon"
*"I Remember Brother Ray" - 2005
*"Cityscape"- 2006
*"Life" - 2007References
* [http://www.davidfatheadnewman.com/ Official site] http://www.starpulse.com/music/David_%22Fathead%22_Newman/P109515/unknown/0/0/0/
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/card/0,,473109,00.html
http://members.tripod.com/~hardbop/fathead.html
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20489External links
* [http://members.tripod.com/~hardbop/ The Hard Bop Homepage]
* [http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/collections/zupan-audio.html Worcester Radio Interview with David Newman]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.