Tenor saxophonist
John Stubblefield ranks among the most powerful and innovative soloists of the post-
Coltrane generation, collaborating with a who's who of modern jazz and avant-garde giants including
Charles Mingus, whose big band
Stubblefield later spearheaded. Born February 4, 1945, in Little Rock, AK,
Stubblefield first studied the piano, but moved to saxophone as a teen. The product of a strictly segregated African-American neighborhood, he absorbed the music of the itinerant blues and gospel performers moving in and out of his environment, and their influence on the deeply emotional soloing that defines his best work proved profound. (Another huge inspiration was saxophonist
Don Byas, the
Basie alum who also called Little Rock home.)
At 17
Stubblefield joined local R&B combo York Wilburn & the Thrillers, with whom he made his recording debut. He then spent a year on the road with soul legend
Solomon Burke before studying music at A&ME College in Pine Bluff, AK, concurrently leading his own modern jazz quintet. After graduation,
Stubblefield settled in Chicago in 1967, soon signing on with the pioneering avant-garde jazz collective the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); he studied under
Muhal Richard Abrams and appeared on
Joseph Jarman's landmark 1968 set
As If It Were the Seasons.
Stubblefield remained with the AACM until 1970, when he relocated to New York City and joined its East Coast counterpart, the Collective Black Artists. He played with
Mary Lou Williams,
Tito Puente, and
the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Upon joining
Mingus in 1972,
Stubblefield added alto saxophone, oboe, flute, and bass clarinet to his arsenal, but after five months with the group he and
Mingus suffered a falling-out that effectively left
Stubblefield blacklisted throughout much of the New York jazz community. He finally landed with
Nat Adderley's quintet, resisting
Mingus' overtures for him to return to the fold, and in 1973 briefly played behind
Miles Davis as well. During the mid-'70s,
Stubblefield also served as an instructor with the famed Jazzmobile program.
He cut his first disc as a leader, Midnight Sun, in 1976 -- subsequent efforts for the Enja and Soul Note labels include 1984's Confessin', 1987's
Countin' on the Blues, and 1990's Sophisticatedfunk. Following
Mingus' death, his widow
Sue assembled
the Mingus Big Band in 1992 to carry on her husband's legacy.
Stubblefield served as its lead tenor and occasional conductor, and was one of the few bandmembers who had actually played alongside
Mingus in his prime. Even after he was diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 2004,
Stubblefield remained
the Mingus Big Band's guiding force, conducting much of its
I Am Three album from his wheelchair. He died July 4, 2005. ~ Jason Ankeny