Frank Lowe, 60; Tenor Saxophonist Was Influenced by Coltrane

Frank Lowe, 60, a tenor saxophonist who was part of the wave of free-jazz players influenced by John Coltrane, died of complications from lung cancer Friday in New York City.

Raised in Memphis, Lowe learned the saxophone from Packy Axton, who was part owner of Stax Records, where Lowe worked as a youth.

Lowe attended the University of Kansas and later studied at the San Francisco Conservatory before moving to New York City. He began playing in a band led by Alice Coltrane, the wife of John Coltrane, and then recorded his first album, “Black Beings.”

Another avant-garde album, “Fresh,” was recorded the next year. He collaborated with trumpeter Don Cherry on the soundtrack to the film “The Holy Mountain” and also produced and arranged his own movie, “Street Music,” in the 1970s.

In the early 1990s, he formed Saxemble with four saxophonists, including James Carter and Michael Marcus.