Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. His saxophone shows up on some of the greatest sides of the Big Band Era. Be it small group settings or in the backdrop of a big band, Auld could adapt his expressive style to a wide variety of moods and contexts.
Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. Before the family left Canada, Auld's parents gave him a saxophone, which he taught himself to play and began to entertain guests in the family saloon.When only 7 years old he was receiving several dollars a week in tips and became convinced that he could earn a living as a musician. Altwerger--who later changed his name to Auld for stage purposes--formed a band in New York when he was 13. Began playing alto clarinet in 1930 and won a Rudy Wiedoft scholarship in 1931. From alto sax he switched to tenor sax in 1935 after hearing a Coleman Hawkins recording.
Georgie Auld was with Jan Savitt briefly in 1940. What grabbed the attention of jazz buffs that same year was his participation on several sessions with a cast of all-stars who backed Billie Holiday in September and October. In November he joined Benny Goodman's aggregation remaining with him for about a year. Goodman immediately used Auld as part of the Benny Goodman Sextet as on November 7th the group waxed the tune Wholly Cats. Along with Charlie Christian, Cootie Williams, and on occasion Count Basie on piano, this group created some of the most brilliant and exciting small group jazz sides to come out of the big band era. After departing Goodman, Auld joined yet another band led by Artie Shaw from 1941 to 1942. After a stint in the Army in '43, he formed his own big band leading it from 1944-6.
This Georgie Auld Orchestra recorded some interesting sides that at times used elements of bebop but for the most part still retained a melodic flowing rhythm. In 1946 doctors discovered that Auld had tuberculosis. He was only semi active for a few years, until his
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health recovered, but in 1948 formed a 10-piece band, his style having changed to that of the more modern bebop style players. Later that year, he disbanded and opened his own club in New York called The Troubadour on 52nd Street and appeared in the Broadway show The Rat Race. In 1950 he briefly worked with Count Basie's sextet.
In 1951 Auld moved back to California because of health issues and while living in Hollywood in 1954 opened another night club called the Melody Room. In 1955 and '56 he once again had his own big band, this a 20-piece group that featured Jimmie Lunceford style arrangements written
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by Billy May. In 1958 he returned to New York City to do studio work and record, making numerous appearances on Art Ford’s TV “Jazz Party”. Auld also played some rock´n roll working for Alan Freed in 1959.
In 1967 he became music director for Tony Martin, freelanced as a studio musician and toured frequently in Japan and Europe. By 1975 had recorded nearly 20 albums. He can be heard playing sax on the 1968 Ella Fitzgerald album 30 by Ella. In 1977 he played a bandleader in the motion picture New York, New York, starring Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro and also acted as a technical consultant for the film.
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He last appeared in Los Angeles in April, 1989, at the Grand Avenue Bar of the Biltmore Hotel where Times jazz critic Leonard Feather found "renewed evidence of a sound and style that have defied the inroads of time." Auld died on January 8, 1990, in Palm Springs, California, aged 70.
(Edited from various sources mainly SwingMusic net.)
Here's Georgie Auld on tenor sax with Les Brown and his Band of Renown at the "1983 Aurex Jazz Festival"