Ike Quebec: Biography

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• John Coltrane
• Lou Donaldson
• Leo Parker
• Gene Ammons
• Nick Brignola
• Houston Person
• Serge Chaloff

• Stan Getz
• Ben Webster
• Coleman Hawkins

• George Gershwin
• Ira Gershwin
• James Van Heusen

• Al Gibson
• Shad Collins
• Milt Hinton
• Keg Johnson
• Tyree Glenn
• Cozy Cole
• Alfred Lion

Born:

Aug 17, 1918 in Newark, NJ

Died:

Jan 16, 1963 in New York, NY

Genres:

Piano and Jump Blues Music, Jazz Music, Bop Jazz Music, Swing

Decades Active:

1940's|1950's|1960's

Artistic Quality

High

Cultural Impact

High

Popularity

High

Ratings Guide

Influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster but definitely his own person, Ike Quebec was one of the finest swing-oriented tenor saxman of the 1940s and '50s. Though he was never an innovator, Quebec had a big, breathy sound that was distinctive and easily recognizable, and he was quite consistent when it came to came to down-home blues, sexy ballads, and up-tempo aggression. Originally a pianist, Quebec switched to tenor in the early '40s and showed that he had made the right decision on excellent 78s for Blue Note and Savoy (including his hit "Blue Harlem"). As a sideman, he worked with Benny Carter, Kenny Clarke, Roy Eldridge, and Cab Calloway. In the late '40s, the saxman did a bit of freelancing behind the scenes as a Blue Note AR man and brought Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell to the label. Drug problems kept Quebec from recording for most of the 1950s, but he made a triumphant comeback in the early '60s and was once again recording for Blue Note and doing freelance AR for the company. Quebec was playing as authoritatively as ever well into 1962, giving no indication that he was suffering from lung cancer, which claimed his life at the age of 44 in 1963.

- Alex Henderson, All Music Guide