Bud Freeman

One of the all-time great jazz tenor saxophonists, born Lawrence Freeman in Chicago on April 13th 1906. He was an early alumnus of the Austin High School Gang (which evolved into the Chicagoans and then became Husk O'Hare's Wolverines). The nucleus of these groups included at various times such illustrious personnel as the cornettist Jimmy McPartland, pianist Joe Sullivan, clarinettist Benny Goodman, guitarist/banjoist Eddie Condon, drummers Gene Krupa and George Wettling, plus the short-lived clarinet and alto sax player Frank Teschemacher. These men essentially represented what became known as the high energy, free-wheeling 'Chicago-style' of jazz. Having switched from C Melody to tenor sax by 1925, Freeman went on to a prolific and varied career which encompassed being the front man of several recording groups, to plying his trade as a saxophonist on the transatlantic cruise ship Ile de France, followed by stints in Paris (with his close friend, the drummer Davey Tough) and New Yor