White, Andrew (Nathaniel III)

White, Andrew (Nathaniel III), jazz tenor saxophonist, bass guitarist; b. Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 1942. He studied saxophone as a child and later took lessons in oboe and music theory at Howard Univ. in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1964. He played in the JFK Quintet, which existed from 1960 to 1963, with Joe Chambers on drums and Walter Booker on bass. After further study at Dartmouth Coll. in Hanover, N.H., and at the Paris Cons., he was principal oboist in the American Ballet Theatre orchestra in N.Y. (1968-72). He then played bass guitar for Stevie Wonder and other popular musicians (1969-73); during this time he also made hundreds of transcriptions of recorded solos by John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, and Charlie Parker, which he has sold through the mail. His Coltrane transcriptions are legendary for their meticulous detail and because he has transcribed every commercially issued recording as well as a number of broadcasts. In 1976 he arranged the music for and performed in the big-band tribute to Coltrane at the Newport in N.Y. Jazz Festival. He has since focused on performing jazz, playing alto and soprano saxophone as a sideman to Elvin Jones and Beaver Harris.

Discography

Jfk Quintet New Jazz Frontiers from Washington (1961); Young Ideas (1962); Sun and Moon Have Come Together (1969); Passion Flower (1974); Seven Giant Steps for Coltrane (1974); Marathon (1975); Andrew White Live in New York (1977); I Love Japan (1979); Conversations (1982).

Writings

Hey Kid! Wanna Buy a Record? A Treatise on Self Production in the Music Business (Washington D.C., 1982); Andrew’s X-Rated Band Stories (Washington, D.C., 1984); Trane ’n Me: A Treatise on the Music of John Coltrane (Washington D.C., 1981); Sideman!: X-Rated Band Stories, Vol. Two (Washington D.C., 1986).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Lewis Porter