Lon Price, Jazz Saxophonist, Composer-Arranger

Background

I began my musical development in Fort Worth, Texas, where I began playing professionally at the age of fifteen. My major influences on the saxophone were John Coltrane, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, David "Fathead" Newman, and Hank Crawford. My playing style incorporates the "Texas Tenor" sound, as well as my jazz and rhythm 'n blues roots. I majored in jazz studies at the University of North Texas, and was a featured saxophone soloist and composer/arranger with the famed One O'clock Lab Band. In 1971 I performed with Elvis Presley during the Texas leg of his U.S. tour. In '72 I toured with "Mr. Blue-eyed Soul," Wayne Cochran, where I met and became friends with legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. In '73 I toured the U.S. with Tom Jones. I lived in New Orleans the next four years, where I really learned to play the blues! While living there I did recording work with famed producer/songwriter/arranger Allen Toussaint, recording with artists such as Patti LaBelle, John Mayall and James Cotton; and I performed with Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, and piano legend Professor Longhair (including a European tour), among others.

In 1977 I moved to Los Angeles, my present home, recording and/or touring with many top artists, including Joan Armatrading (World Tour '79), Al Jarreau (alto sax solo on "We're in this Love Together" from the "Breaking Away" album), Barbra Streisand ("Emotion" album), and Manhattan Transfer (American Tour '94). I've been a member of local favorite band Billy Vera and the Beaters since 1979. Since 1993 I've been recording and touring with French singer/pianist Véronique Sanson.

In 1993, after two years of private study with composer and University of Southern California faculty member Erica Muhl, I enrolled at USC, where I studied composition for three years. I've studied with Stephen Hartke, Prix de Rome winner and Fulbright scholor; Donald Crockett, former composer in residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; and Frank Ticheli, whose compositions appear on a cd with the music of John Corigliano. In 1995 my Variations for Orchestra was featured in a program of new music for orchestra performed by the USC Symphony.

Breaking News!

I am currently performing with the Billy Vera Big Band. In November of 2011 we recorded an album of big band jazz at Capitol Records Studio A, site of many legendary recordings, from Nat King Cole to the Beatles. This was a lifelong dream come true for Billy. The album is a salute to the great African-American songwriters of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. I played tenor sax solos on James P. Johnson's "If I Could Be With You" and "Room With a View," written by Billy and Lowell Fulson. The band has performed at jazz festivals in Syracuse, NY and Bakersfield, CA, and regularly performs at the Catalina Jazz Club, 6725 W. Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028 Tel. (323) 466-2210