Sahib Shihab

Sahib Shihab
Sahib Shihab
Birth name	Edmond Gregory
Born	23 June 1925
Origin	Savannah, Georgia, United States
Died	24 October 1989 (aged 64)
Genres	Jazz; Hard Bop
Occupations	Saxophonist
Instruments	Baritone saxophone; Alto saxophone
Years active	1940s - 1980s
Associated acts	Gene Quill, Phil Woods, Hal Stein

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Sahib Shihab (born Edmund Gregory; 23 June 1925, Savannah, Georgia – 24 October 1989, Knoxville, Tennessee) was an American jazz saxophonist (baritone, alto, and soprano) and flautist.

[edit] Biography

He first played alto saxophone professionally for Luther Henderson at age 13^[1] and went on to study at the Boston Conservatory and to play with trumpeter Roy Eldridge. He played lead alto with Fletcher Henderson in the mid forties.

He was one of the first jazz musicians to convert to Islam and changed his name in 1947. During the late 1940s, Shihab played with Thelonious Monk. During this period, he also found time to appear on many recordings by artists including Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham and Benny Golson. The invitation to play with Dizzy Gillespie's big band in the early fifties was of particular significance as it marked Sahib's switch to baritone.

In 1957, Sahib was one of the musicians photographed by Art Kane in his A Great Day in Harlem picture.

In 1959, he toured Europe with Quincy Jones after getting fed up with racial politics in USA and ultimately settled in Scandinavia. He worked for Copenhagen Polytechnic and wrote scores for television, cinema and theatre.

In 1961, he joined The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band and remained a key figure in the band for the 12 years it ran. He married a Danish lady and raised a family in Europe, although he remained a conscious African-American still sensitive to racial issues.

In the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, Shihab accompanied Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson on stage for the Swedish entry Nygammal Vals.

In 1973, Sahib returned to the United States for a three-year hiatus, working as a session man for rock and pop artists and also doing some copywriting for local musicians. He spent his remaining years between New York and Europe and played in a successful partnership with Art Farmer and died in Tennessee.^[2]