A.C. Reed was one of the only saxophone players to ever front a blues band. He played with Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
He was known as one of the elder statesmen of the Chicago blues scene. He combined a simple, eloquent style of playing with an offbeat sense of humor in his songwriting.
“In terms of the blues world, if you were asked to name the best-known living sax players, he would be one of three or four, worldwide,” said Bruce Iglauer, the founder of Alligator Records, the company that has dealt with Mr. Reed for about 25 years.
Mr. Reed, 77, died Wednesday, Feb. 25, of complications from cancer at Provident Hospital of Cook County. He played live performances up until two months before his death, Iglauer said.
He released three solo albums and numerous singles. His songs tended to mock the music industry and often had humorous titles, such as “Don’t Drive Drunk,” “I’m In the Wrong Business” and “I Am Fed Up With This Music.”
“Though he often sang about music in a negative way, it was always with a kind of love for what he was doing,” said Niles Frantz, host of a blues show on WBEZ public radio.
Mr. Reed was born Aaron Corthen in Wardell, Mo., and raised in Downstate Illinois. He moved to Chicago in 1942 and began working at a steel mill. With his first paycheck, he bought a saxophone at a pawn shop, his record company said.
He studied for a few years at the Chicago Conservatory of Music and was particularly influenced by the late Gene Ammons. He worked at the steel mill by day, and he began performing in Chicago-area blues bars on weekends.
“He played blues of the first-class quality,” said Koko Taylor, a vocalist who knew Mr. Reed for almost 40 years and who has recorded with him. “Everyone knew him for his good music. It was just so good to listen to.”
Mr. Reed toured across the Midwest and Southwest with the late Earl Hooker and Dennis “Long Man” Binder in the 1950s. When Mr. Reed returned to Chicago in the 1960s, he began recording with area blues players and collaborating with Buddy Guy and the late Junior Wells. He toured Africa with Guy’s band in 1967 and joined the Rolling Stones tour in 1970.
In 1977, he played with Son Seals, another Chicago blues legend, according to blues enthusiasts. Mr. Reed then spent a decade as a member of the Icebreakers, a band fronted by the late Albert Collins. Mr. Reed helped record the Grammy-nominated blues record “Ice Pickin’.”
Mr. Reed then broke off and started his solo career, fronting the Spark Plugs in 1983. He performed about 250 times a year, according to his label.
“It was pretty rare for a horn guy to front a band. He had the personality of a band leader and could also play the sax,” Iglauer said.
Mr. Reed worked in clubs and played at festivals across the nation and played a seminal role in many Chicago blues festivals. In his later years, he recorded two solo albums, the 1998 “Junk Food” on Delmark and the 2002 “I Got Money” on the French Black and Blue Label.
He also played on some of Taylor’s albums.
“In his later years, he was going for a slower sound,” she said. “He could really tell a story through his music.”
Mr. Reed is survived by his sister, Sarah Corthen. Funeral arrangements are pending.
