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Flip Phillips

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Joseph Edward Filippelli, known as Flip Phillips, was an American jazz saxophonist on tenor and a clarinettist. He was born in Brooklyn in 1915. In the 1930s he played clarinet in a restaurant in Brooklyn. After that he worked in the bands of Frankie Newton, Red Norvo, Benny Goodman and Wingy Manone. In the mid-1940s he was a regular soloist in Woody Herman's band, the First Herd.

Music and breakthrough

His best-known period came after that, from 1946 to 1957, in the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts of Norman Granz. In those years he also played on recordings by Charlie Parker. He recorded a great deal for Clef Records, including a 1949 album with his own small group, in which Kai Winding, Sonny Criss, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne, among others, played. In 1952 he accompanied Billie Holiday on Billie Holiday Sings. He withdrew to Florida, but after fifteen years returned to New York and continued to record and perform into his eighties, with A Sound Investment in 1987, Swing Is The Thing! in 2000 and Mayhem In Manhattan in 2003, among others. He died in Fort Lauderdale in 2001.

Influence

Phillips played mainstream jazz, swing and jump blues. In the Dutch description he is called an impulsive tenor saxophonist of the swing era. His playing is energetic, with a big, warm tone, and made him a favourite of the audiences in Granz's concert halls. He belongs to the generation that passed swing on to the jazz of the postwar years.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording of Flip Phillips with Jazz at the Philharmonic, or to Mood Indigo, and notice the full, warm tone of the tenor saxophone and the energetic, swinging phrasing.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists