Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987)[1] was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist
Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as a member of
Supersax.
Biography
Marsh came from an affluent artistic background: his father was Hollywood cinematographer
Oliver T. Marsh (1892–1941), and his mother Elizabeth was a violinist. He was the nephew of actresses
Mae Marsh and
Marguerite Marsh and film editor
Frances Marsh.
He was tutored by
Lennie Tristano.[1] Marsh was often recorded in the company of other Cool School musicians,[2] and remained one of the most faithful to the Tristano philosophy of improvisation – the faith in the purity of the long line, the avoidance of
licks and emotional chain-pulling, the concentration on endlessly mining the same small body of
jazz standards. While Marsh was a generally cool-toned player, the critic
Scott Yanow notes that Marsh played with "more fire than one would expect" in certain contexts.[3]
Marsh's rhythmically subtle lines are immediately recognizable. He has been called by
Anthony Braxton "the greatest vertical improviser" (i.e., improvising that emphasizes harmony/chords more than melody).[4] In the 1970s, he gained renewed exposure as a member of
Supersax, a large ensemble which played orchestral arrangements of
Charlie Parker solos.[1] Marsh also recorded one of his most celebrated albums,
All Music, with the Supersax rhythm section during this period.
Though he remains something of a cult figure among jazz fans and musicians, his influence has grown since his death; younger players such as
Mark Turner have borrowed from his music as a way of counterbalancing the pervasive influence of
John Coltrane. Marsh's
discography remains somewhat scattered and elusive, as much of it was done for small labels, but more and more of his work has been issued on compact disc in recent years.
A documentary is being made about him: Warne Marsh: An Improvised Life, directed by his eldest son, K.C. Marsh.