Odean Pope (born October 24, 1938) is an American
jazz tenor saxophonist.[1]
Biography
Pope was raised in
Philadelphia, where he learned from
Ray Bryant while young.[2] Early in his career, at Philadelphia's Uptown Theater, Pope played behind a number of noted rhythm and blues artists including
James Brown,
Marvin Gaye and
Stevie Wonder.[3]
He played briefly in the 1960s with
Jimmy McGriff, and late in the 1960s he began working with
Max Roach, including on tours of Europe in 1967-68. He was a member of Philadelphia group
Catalyst in the early and mid-1970s, and assembled the
Saxophone Choir, which consists of nine saxophones and a rhythm section (piano, bass and drums), in 1977. He became a regular member of Roach's quartet in 1979 and recorded extensively with him, in addition to numerous releases as a leader.
Pope has publicly spoken about his
bipolar disorder, which he has had for over 30 years.[4]
Pope was quoted in 2001 as saying, "Every time I pick that horn up there's always something that I discover I can do differently if I really seek. If you were on planet Earth for, like, 2 billion years, I feel as though there's always something new that you can find to do. There's no end."[3]