Arnie Lawrence, 66; Sax Player, Jazz Educator in New York and Israel

Arnie Lawrence, 66, a saxophonist and influential jazz educator in New York and Israel, died of cancer April 22 in Jerusalem.

A native of Brooklyn, Lawrence started playing the saxophone professionally at 12. In the early 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he played with Chico Hamilton’s big band.

But he spent much of the 1960s in New York, where he was a member of Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” band. When the show moved to Los Angeles in 1972, Lawrence stayed in New York, working with Dizzy Gillespie, Liza Minnelli and Blood, Sweat and Tears through much of the decade. He also led his own groups, Children of All Ages and Treasure Island.

Lawrence played a key role in developing the bachelor of fine arts program in jazz at the New School in Manhattan. He was its director of instruction until 1997, when he moved to Israel and founded the International Center for Creative Music in Jerusalem. For a time, Lawrence also played in a jazz group in the West Bank city of Ramallah that included Jewish and Palestinian players. Political tensions brought that practice to a halt.