Bobby Jaspar

Bobby Jaspar
Bobby Jaspar
Background information
Born(1926-02-20)20 February 1926
Liège, Belgium
Died28 February 1963(1963-02-28) (aged 37)
New York City, New York, United States
GenreJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentsFlute, tenor saxophone
Years active1954–1963
LabelPrestige
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1957)​

Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer.

Early life

Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up the tenor saxophone and flute.

Career

With the "Bob Shots" band, he took his first steps in the jazz world. In 1950, Jaspar moved to Paris, playing and recording with the best musicians of the era. Here he met singer Blossom Dearie; the two were married in 1954, but divorced in 1957.

In 1956, Jaspar was persuaded to try his luck in the United States, where his reputation in jazz circles had preceded him. He played and recorded with the quintet of J. J. Johnson, with Kenny Burrell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Donald Byrd and many others.

In 1961/1962, Jaspar returned to Europe for a year for a series of concerts and a number of recordings, and formed a successful quintet with Belgian guitarist René Thomas. In some sessions, this was expanded to a powerful sextet with American trumpeter Chet Baker. One of those sessions, recorded in 1962, was released on record as Chet Is Back!.

Death

Bobby Jaspar died from a heart attack in New York City, on 28 February 1963 at age 37.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

With Chet Baker

  • Chet Baker and His Quintet with Bobby Jaspar (Barclay, 1956)
  • Chet Is Back! (RCA, 1962)

With Donald Byrd

  • Byrd in Paris (Brunswick, 1958)
  • Parisian Thoroughfare (Brunswick, 1958)
  • Cannes '58 (Sam, 1958 [2022])
  • Paris '58 (Sam, 1958 [2023])

With Chris Connor

  • Chris Craft (Atlantic, 1958)
  • Sings Ballads of the Sad Cafe (Atlantic, 1959)

With Blossom Dearie

With J. J. Johnson

With others

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 1269/70. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ↑ "Blossom Dearie: Jazz songwriter, singer and pianist who worked with Johnny Mercer and Woody Herman". The Independent. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2020.