Wessell Anderson

Wessell Anderson
Born	1966 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Saxophone
Years active	1980–present

Wessell "Warmdaddy" Anderson (born 1966 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American jazz alto and sopranino saxophonist.

Anderson grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, and played jazz early on at the urging of his father, who was a drummer. He played in local clubs from his early teenage years, and studied at the Jazzmobile workshops with Frank Wess, Charles Davis, and Frank Foster. He also met Branford Marsalis, who convinced him to study with Alvin Batiste at Southern University in Louisiana.

Soon after this, Anderson began touring with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, and collaborated with Marsalis through the middle of the 1990s. He continued to play with Marsalis's Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra beyond this. In 1994, he released his debut album on Atlantic Records; Eric Reed and Ben Wolfe were among those who played as sidemen. His 1998 album Live at the Village Vanguard featured Irvin Mayfield, Steve Kirby, Xavier Davis, and Jaz Sawyer.

Wess is married to the former Desimonae Moore of Baton Rouge. They have a son, Wessell Anderson IV, known as Quad. Quad, a University of New Orleans student, has a music career of his own as a jazz trombonist. The Andersons own a restaurant in East Lansing, Michigan called Gumbo & Jazz.

Discography

• Warmdaddy in the Garden of Swing (Atlantic, 1994)
• Ways of Warmdaddy (Atlantic, 1996)
• Live at the Village Vanguard (Leaning House, 1998)
• Warm It Up, Warmdaddy! (Nu Jazz, 2009)

As sideman

With Wynton Marsalis

• Big Train (Columbia/Sony Classical, 1999)

References

• Alex Arcone, Wessell Anderson at Allmusic