Buddy Tate

Buddy Tate
Jazz saxophonist Buddy Tate with pianist Bubba Kolb at the Village Jazz Lounge in Walt Disney World
Background information
Birth name	George Holmes Tate
Born	(1913-02-22)February 22, 1913 Sherman, Texas, U.S.
Died	February 10, 2001(2001-02-10) (aged 87) Chandler, Arizona
Genres	Swing, big band
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Saxophone, clarinet

George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.

Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, and began performing on alto saxophone. As a teenager in 1925, he played with his brother and their band called McCloud's Night Owls."

Tate quickly switched to tenor saxophone making a name for himself in bands such as the one led by Andy Kirk. He joined Count Basie's band in 1939 and stayed with him until 1948. He had been selected by Basie after the sudden death of Herschel Evans, which Tate stated he had predicted in a dream.

After his period with Basie ended, he worked with several other bands before he found success on his own, starting in 1953 in Harlem. His group worked at the "Celebrity Club" from 1953 to 1974. In the late 1970s, he co-led a band with Paul Quinichette and worked with Benny Goodman.

In 1980, he received serious injuries from scalding water in a hotel shower, which kept him inactive for four months. He later suffered from a serious illness. The 1990s saw him slow down, but he remained active playing with Lionel Hampton among others.

In 1992, he took part in the documentary, Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story. In 1996, he recorded with woodwind artist James Carter on the younger man's second release for Atlantic Records Conversin' With The Elders along with trumpeters Harry "Sweets" Edison and Lester Bowie, and saxophonists Hamiet Bluiett and Larry Smith. He lived in New York until 2001 when he moved to Arizona to be cared for by his daughter. He died in Chandler, Arizona, at the age of 87.