Teo Macero

Born in Glens Falls, New York, on October 30, 1925, and died in Riverhead, Long Island, on February 19, 2008, saxophonist, arranger and bandleader Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero is best known as a close collaborator of Miles Davis. A student at New York's Juilliard School from 1948 to 1953, he studied composition and, after graduating, worked with Charles Mingus in the Jazz Composers Workshop and on some of the bassist's albums, before accompanying vibraphonist Teddy Charles in 1956. At the same time, he developed his own career in the "third stream" style, bringing jazz closer to classical composition, and proved himself an adept of atonality on his first albums Explorations (1953), What's New (1956) and Teo (1957), with the Prestige Jazz Quartet. Signed by Columbia in 1956, the tenor and alto saxophonist became a sought-after composer, arranger and producer, working alongside Thelonious Monk and above all Miles Davis, whom he accompanied on all his sonic adventures until 1985, notably on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew in 1969, where he played a leading role. He also worked for many other artists, including Dave Brubeck on the album Time's Out (1959), as well as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd, on over a hundred recordings in all, including musicals, film scores and Irish folk. He also continued to compose classical music, notably ballets, and collaborated with major orchestras alongside Leonard Bernstein. Later, after the Columbia period, Teo Macero was called upon to assist numerous jazz and pop-rock artists, including Herbie Hancock, Michel Legrand, Shirley MacLaine, The Lounge Lizards, Vernon Reid, Robert Palmer, Geri Allen and DJ Logic. He recorded several albums in different styles, including tributes to Mingus, Monk and Davis. He died of pneumonia at the age of 82.

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