Tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips, a key member of Woody Herman’s big band in the 1940s who was also prominent in the legendary Jazz at the Philharmonic touring concerts for more than a decade, has died. He was 86.
Mr. Phillips died Friday in Ft. Lauderdale.
Born Joseph Edward Filipelli in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Phillips took up the bass clarinet at age 12. He picked up the saxophone later and started playing on 52nd Street in Manhattan, then a hotbed of jazz.
Mr. Phillips got his big break in 1944 when he replaced Vido Musso in Herman’s First Herd band. He fit right in with a big sound and energetic improvisations.
His most noted tune may be the 1947 recording of Juan Tizol’s “Perdido,” which he did for Norman Granz during a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Phillips played with the Jazz at the Philharmonic ensembles from the late 1940s until Granz disbanded the unit in 1957. Mr. Phillips closed out the ’50s playing with drummer Gene Krupa’s trio and made a European tour with Benny Goodman.
Mr. Phillips’ major label debut as a leader came just last year when “Swing Is the Thing” was released by Verve records.
