Harold Land; Tenor Saxophonist Was Key Player in L.A. Jazz

Harold Land, a tenor saxophonist with a forthright sound who was a key figure in several vital jazz groups dating to the 1950s and a strong presence in the L.A. jazz scene, died Friday. He was 72.

Land suffered a stroke at his home early Friday and was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in West Los Angeles, said a friend, Clint Rosemond. He died at the hospital.

When Land burst into the jazz spotlight in the 1950s with the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, his dark, muscular tone, angular approach to melody and unadulterated sense of swing immediately identified him as an original voice.

When most tenor saxophonists were either swinging in a loose, Lester Young-influenced manner or working their way through the harmonic mazes of bebop, Land insisted upon retaining the buoyant drive and outspoken communicativeness of the swing era in his solos.

Although his approach softened in later years, the influence of hard-edged players such as Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas and Lucky Thompson always lurked beneath the surface of his music.

A native of Houston, Land grew up in San Diego and became interested in music after hearing Hawkins’ classic version of “Body and Soul.” His parents bought him a saxophone when he was 16 and he made his first record at 21.

He moved to Los Angeles, which was then a hotbed of jazz. He would later recall that Central Avenue was jumping with music on practically every block.

“I would drive up from San Diego to catch the bands or maybe sit in. People like Dizzy [Gillespie] and Bird, working at Billy Berg’s (a now-defunct nightclub) had us all in awe. It was inevitable that I would settle here.”

Initially, Land had trouble finding work, recalling that the first couple of months were a diet of “crackers and peanut butter,” until one day the noted trumpeter Brown brought drummer Roach to hear Land in a jam session at saxophonist Eric Dolphy’s house.

Land was hired and he joined the quintet, traveling throughout the East and living in Philadelphia with the group’s pianist Richie Powell and his brother, piano giant Bud Powell.

Land missed his family and quit the group to return to Los Angeles. A year later Brown and Richie Powell were killed in an automobile accident.

Back in Southern California, Land joined a group led by bassist Curtis Counce before taking a lead or co-lead role in bands with another bassist, Red Mitchell, and later the vibraphone player Bobby Hutcherson. He played with Gerald Wilson’s big band and also led a quintet with trumpeter Blue Mitchell.

Through the 1980s, Land was a mainstay of the Timeless All-Stars, a six-piece band that included Hutcherson, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Cedar Walton, drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Buster Williams.

While appearing on his own the last few years in Los Angeles and at festival dates in Europe, Land also taught informally, at Los Angeles high schools and in the jazz studies program at UCLA.

Survivors include his wife, Lydia; his son, Harold Land Jr., a jazz pianist; and a grandson, Alvin.

Funeral arrangements were pending.