Cecil Payne

Cecil Payne
Cecil Payne at the Kitano Hotel Jazz Club, NYC on June 11, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Cecil Payne
Born	(1922-12-14)December 14, 1922
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died	November 27, 2007(2007-11-27) (aged 84)
Genres	Bop Hard bop
Occupation(s)	Saxophonist Flautist
Instruments	Baritone saxophone Alto saxophone Flute
Labels	Delmark Records
Associated acts	Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Weston

Cecil Payne (December 14, 1922 – November 27, 2007) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute. He played with other prominent jazz musicians, in particular Dizzy Gillespie and Randy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader.

Payne received his first saxophone at the age of 13, asking his father for one after hearing "Honeysuckle Rose" performed by Count Basie with Lester Young soloing. Payne took lessons from a local alto sax player, Pete Brown. He studied at Boys High School, Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Payne began his professional recording career with J. J. Johnson on the Savoy label in 1946. During that year he also began playing with Roy Eldridge, through whom he met Dizzy Gillespie. His earlier recordings would largely fall under the swing category, until Gillespie hired him. Payne stayed on board until 1949, heard performing solos on "Ow!" and "Stay On It". In the early 1950s he found himself working with Tadd Dameron, and worked with Illinois Jacquet from 1952 to 1954. He then started freelance work in New York City and frequently performed during this period with Randy Weston, whom Payne worked with until 1960. Payne was still recording regularly for Delmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his seventies, and indeed on into the new millennium.