Lawrence Freeman, 84; Developed Chicago-Style Jazz
Lawrence (Bud) Freeman, a tenor saxophonist who helped develop the Chicago style of jazz in a career that began in the Roaring 20s, died Friday of cancer, associates said. He was 84.
“He was a master of the tenor sax. His style was neither cool nor hot. It was his own, strictly his own,” said Chicago writer Studs Terkel.
Freeman began his career as a teen-ager with a jazz group known as the Austin High Gang. The group included Jimmy and Dick McPartland, Dave Tough, Jim Lanigan, Dave North and Frank Teschmacher.
The group, along with cornet legend Bix Beiderbecke, helped develop the distinctive Chicago style.
Freeman later played with the Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman bands and performed abroad after World War II.
Freeman is survived by a sister, Florence Charles of Los Angeles.
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