Harold Ashby, 78; Tenor Sax Player for Duke Ellington

Harold Ashby, 78, a tenor saxophonist with the Duke Ellington orchestra, died Friday in New York City. No cause of death was given, but the New York Times reported that he entered the hospital at the end of May after a heart attack.

Ashby was the band’s featured tenor sax player well into the 1970s, even after Ellington’s death in 1974. He also worked with several other musicians, including Count Basie and Jimmy Witherspoon.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., Ashby began his musical career there. He later moved to Chicago where he became popular in local blues clubs during the 1950s.

He first worked with Ellington as a substitute in 1960 and joined the band full time in 1968. After leaving the band in 1975, he worked as a freelance musician in New York and Europe.

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music characterized Ashby “as a striking player ... with a distinctive hard-edged tone.”