Fred Anderson (musician)

American jazz saxophonist

Fred Anderson (March 22, 1929 – June 24, 2010) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but he also incorporated innovations from free jazz. Critic Ben Ratliff called him "a father figure of experimental jazz in Chicago". Writer John Corbett referred to him as "scene caretaker, underground booster, indefatigable cultural worker, quiet force for good." In 2001, author John Litweiler called Anderson "the finest tenor saxophonist in free jazz/underground jazz/outside jazz today."

Anderson was born in Monroe, Louisiana. When he was ten, his parents separated, where he initially lived with his mother and aunt in a one room apartment. He listened to Lester Young, Johnny Hodges, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, and Illinois Jacquet, all of whom would influence his playing. He also heard Young and Parker in concert on multiple occasions. Unlike many musicians at the time, Anderson did not play with dance bands or school ensembles, and instead focused on practicing, taking private lessons, and studying music theory at the Roy Knapp Conservatory in Chicago, all the while supporting his family by working as a waiter. Regarding Parker's influence, Anderson stated: "I tried to figure out how he was doing certain things not so much the notes that he was playing. He had a unique way about placing things." He also recalled: "Charlie Parker was one of the freest musicians I had ever heard [his] technique was superb. Each one of the notes would just come out and hit you His music was so involved. It was hard. It's still hard." At around this time, he began to develop a series of exercises which he incorporated into his daily practice routine, and which eventually became a book titled "Exercises for the Creative Musician". In the early 1960s, Anderson began listening to and studying the music of Ornette Coleman, and immediately related Coleman's playing to that of Charlie Parker. He recalled: "When I heard Ornette Coleman back in those days I knew exactly what he was doing. It wasn’t strange to me. I knew exactly where he was coming from." In 1963, Anderson began participating in weekly jam sessions in Chicago, where he met Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, and Richard Abrams, with whom he began discussing the idea of forming a new organization to promote their music. with Anderson as one of its earliest members. (As per George E. Lewis, Anderson was not a charter member, but attended the early meetings and got in on the ground floor.) On August 16, 1965, Anderson played on the first AACM event as part of the Joseph Jarman Quintet, which also featured Brimfield as well as bassist Charles Clark and drummer Arthur Reed. In late 1966, Anderson participated in the recording of Jarman's debut album, Song For, and in 1968, he played on Jarman's As If It Were the Seasons. Both albums were released on the Delmark label. In the late 1960s, when many of his AACM colleagues moved to Europe, Anderson chose to remain behind, supporting his wife and three young children by working at a rug company, practicing his instrument, and heading the AACM's Evanston chapter with Brimfield. Paul Steinbeck of the University of Chicago wrote: "These performers were a full generation younger than Anderson and comparatively inexperienced, yet he granted them considerable creative agency as members of his band The expressive multiplicity and non hierarchic social structure promoted by Anderson made his 1970s band resemble a 'mutuality' a special kind of collective enterprise that requires its members to achieve a 'high degree of autonomy' while maintaining a sense of 'full partner[ship]' Anderson’s inclusiveness and ardent support of his collaborators' creative development performed a crucial leveling function, partially erasing generational boundaries and also re focusing the group on their autonomous, continually unfolding expressive aims." In May of that year, Anderson opened a venue in Chicago that he named the Birdhouse, named after Charlie Parker. In 1979, he recorded Dark Day with Brimfield, bassist Steven Palmore, and drummer Hamid Drake, and The Missing Link with bassist Larry Hayrod, Drake, and percussionist Adam Rudolph. (The second album was not released until 1984.) In 1982, Anderson took over ownership of a bar in Chicago called the Velvet Lounge, and transformed it into a center for the city's jazz and experimental music scenes, hosting Sunday jam sessions and numerous concerts. The club expanded and relocated in the summer of 2006. According to John Fordham, "The venue became a spiritual home to many musicians who shared the uncommercial player's perennial need for an intimate space run by, and for, the people who cared." and The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1, with Brimfield, Drake, and bassist Larry Hayrod, also recorded in 1980 but not released until 2000.) In 1990, however, he received the first Jazz Masters Fellowship from Arts Midwest, He continued to record and tour throughout the 2000s, and continued mentoring countless younger musicians, including Harrison Bankhead, Nicole Mitchell, and Dee Alexander, stating "My role in the city is to keep young musicians playing. I will always have a place for them to play." He died on June 24, 2010, at the age of 81, and was survived by two sons, Michael and Eugene (a third son, Kevin, predeceased him), as well as five grandchildren and six great grandchildren. He was scheduled to perform the day he died.

Release yearTitleLabelNotes1978Another PlaceMoersQuintet, with Billy Brimfield (trumpet), George E. Lewis (trombone), Brian Smith (bass), Hamid Drake (drums)1979Dark DayMessageQuartet, with Billy Brimfield (trumpet), Steven Palmore (bass), Hamid Drake (drums)1984The Missing LinkNessaQuartet, with Larry Hayrod (bass), Hamid Drake (drums), Adam Rudolph (percussion). Recorded in 19791994Vintage DuetsOkka DiskDuo with Steve McCall (drums). Recorded in 19801995DestinyOkka DiskTrio, with Marilyn Crispell (piano), Hamid Drake (drums)1996BirdhouseOkka DiskQuartet, with Jim Baker (piano), Harrison Bankhead (bass), Hamid Drake (drums)1997Fred Chicago Chamber MusicSouthportWith Tatsu Aoki (bass), Afifi Phillard (drums), Bradley Parker Sparrow (piano)1997Fred Anderson / DKV TrioOkka DiskWith the DKV Trio: Hamid Drake (drums), Kent Kessler (bass), Ken Vandermark (reeds)1999Live at the Velvet LoungeOkka DiskTrio, with Peter Kowald (bass), Hamid Drake (percussion)1999Fred Anderson Quartet Volume OneAsian ImprovQuartet, with Bill Brimfield (trumpet), Chad Taylor (drums), Tatsu Aoki (bass)2000The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1AtavisticQuartet, with Billy Brimfield (trumpet), Larry Hayrod (bass), Hamid Drake (drums). Recorded in 198020002 Days in AprilEremiteQuartet, with Hamid Drake (drums), Kidd Jordan (tenor sax), William Parker (bass)2000Fred Anderson Quartet Volume TwoAsian ImprovQuartet, with Hamid Drake (drums), Jeff Parker (guitar), Tatsu Aoki (bass)2001Duets 2001Thrill JockeyDuo with Robert Barry (drums)2001On the Run, Live at the Velvet LoungeDelmarkTrio, with Tatsu Aoki (bass), Hamid Drake (drums)2003Back at the Velvet LoungeDelmarkWith Maurice Brown (trumpet), Jeff Parker (guitar), Harrison Bankhead, Tatsu Aoki (bass), Chad Taylor (drums)2004Back Together AgainThrill JockeyDuo with Hamid Drake (drums)2005Blue WinterEremiteTrio with William Parker (bass), Hamid Drake (drums)2006Timeless, Live at the Velvet LoungeDelmarkTrio with Harrison Bankhead (bass), Hamid Drake (drums)2007The Great Vision ConcertAylerDuo with Harrison Bankhead (bass)2007From the River to the OceanThrill JockeyWith Hamid Drake (drums), Jeff Parker (guitar), Harrison Bankhead, Josh Abrams (bass) 2008Live at the Velvet Lounge Volume IIIAsian ImprovQuartet, with Francis Wong (tenor sax), Chad Taylor (drums), Tatsu Aoki (bass) 2009A Night at the Velvet Lounge Made in Chicago 2007Estrada PoznańskaTrio, with Harrison Bankhead (bass), Dushun Mosley (drums)2009Staying in the GameEngineTrio, with Harrison Bankhead (bass), Tim Daisy (drums)200921st Century ChaseDelmarkWith Kidd Jordan (tenor sax), Jeff Parker (guitar), Harrison Bankhead (bass), Chad Taylor (drums)2009Birthday Live 2000Asian Improv RecordsWith Tatsu Aoki (bass), Chad Taylor (drums)2010Black Horn Long GoneSouthportTrio, with Malachi Favors (bass), Ajaramu (AJ Shelton) (drums). Recorded in 19932015Quintessential Birthday Trio Vol. IIAsian ImprovTrio, with Tatsu Aoki (bass), Chad Taylor (drums).2016Fred Anderson Quartet Volume IVAsian ImprovQuartet, with Tim O'Dell (saxophones), Tatsu Aoki (bass), Avreeayl Ra (drums). Recorded in 2010.2019Fred Anderson Quartet – Live Volume VFPEQuartet, with Toshinori Kondo (trumpet, electronics), Tatsu Aoki (bass), Hamid Drake (drums). Recorded in 1994.2023The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 2Corbett vs. DempseyQuartet, with Billie Brimfield (trumpet), Larry Hayrod (bass), Hamid Drake (drums). Recorded in 1980.