Gerald Albright

Gerald Albright - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Gerald Albright

Gerald Albright (born August 30, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for the albums 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and was nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009.

This profile of Gerald Albright covers Biography, Equipment and Awards and Honours.

Biography of Gerald Albright

Albright began piano lessons at an early age, although he professed no interest in the instrument. His love of music picked up when he was given a saxophone that belonged to his piano teacher. It further reinforced when he attended Locke High School. After high school, he attended the University of Redlands where he was initiated into the Iota Chi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha and received a degree in business management with a minor concentration on music. He switched to bass guitar after he saw Louis Johnson in concert.

After college, Albright worked as a studio musician in the 1980s for Anita Baker, Ray Parker Jr., Olivia Newton-John, and The Temptations. He joined Patrice Rushen, who was forming a band, in which he played saxophone. When the bassist left in the middle of a tour, Albright replaced him and finished the tour playing bass guitar. Around the same time, he began to tour Europe with drummer Alphonse Mouzon. He has also toured with Anita Baker, Phil Collins, Johnny Hallyday, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, Jeff Lorber, and Teena Marie In addition to appearances at clubs and jazz festivals, he has been part of Jazz Explosion tours on which he played with Will Downing, Jonathan Butler, Chaka Khan, Hugh Masekela, and Rachelle Ferrell.

Albright has appeared in the television programs A Different World, Melrose Place and jazz segments for Black Entertainment Television, as well as piloting a show in Las Vegas with Meshach Taylor of Designing Women. He was one of ten saxophonists to perform at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

His saxophone work appears in the PlayStation video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night during the theme song "I Am the Wind", which includes keyboardist Jeff Lorber.

Albright himself describes his playing style as being influenced to a large extent by the music which he heard when being a teenager: A mixture of gospel, Motown, Philly International Sound played by the likes of James Cleveland, The Hawkins Singers, James Brown with his band and particularly Maceo Parker.

In September 2021, Albright received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Joseph R. Biden.

Equipment of Gerald Albright

Albright plays a professional Big Bell Stone Signature Series model of saxophone made by Cannonball Musical Instruments. Of the two necks that are furnished with the Cannonball saxophones, he usually uses the "Fat Neck" with the octave vent tube on the bottom of the neck, a design similar to some vintage Conn 6M models.On mouthpieces, he uses a Beechler Diamond on alto with Silverstein Hexa ligature, Theo Wanne stainless steel Shiva on tenor. Albright also plays bass guitar.

Awards and Honours

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Albright has received a sum of nine Grammy nominations.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Albright), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.