[Benjamin Allen]

https://downbeat.com/news/detail/in-memoriam-saxophonist-mark-colby

 

[jmathesonjr]

Mark was a great saxophonist and a friend to many. I had the opportunity to perform with Mark at Rock Valley College when he would come out to help the bands there for Masterclasses. He taught me a lot. He will be sorely missed. He was a friend.

 

[10mfan]

We were friends on Facebook and he seemed like a great guy. We had some nice conversations but unfortunately, I never got a chance to meet him in person.

I was following the posts that his family was putting up. Very sad.

 

[Saxhound]

So sorry to hear this. I studied briefly with Mark many years ago. Would have liked to do more, but life got in the way. He worked my butt off on transcriptions of Stan Getz and Dexter Gordon, as well as the Omnibook. Fabulous player and an all around nice guy.

 

[vbluesman]

First and foremost Mr Colby was a monster player. He was a very generous teacher of Jazz and was more than willing to work clinics and high school jazz fests to keep the tradition alive along with his teaching duties at DePaul University and Elmhurst College. Mark Colby was a true Chicago institution as a player and teacher.

 

[Sebastian]

oh man ... I can't believe it. I got to meet him about 9 years ago in Chicago and he was the nicest guy. Then I heard him play ... scary. What a monster.

RIP

 

[dexdex]

Sad news. He was my first conscious exposure to that kind of sax playing, mixing jazz, pop and funk roots. A friend of mine, who didn’t like jazz, lent me 2 albums (LPs !), back in the end of 70s. I was soon to discover Grover W, Tom Scott, Michael Brecker (live @ Montreux), David Sanborn (@ Montreux too), but Mark Colby really opened my ears to that genre. I recently bought both albums in CD format, and was really surprised how well this music has aged. Top player, also on soprano, usually rather touchy horn. Reeaally sad news. RIP Mr. Colby. You made this world a better place.

 

[xraydog]

So sad. Just found out today. I first heard Mark when he was play tenor with Maynard Ferguson back in the 1975-76. I was so impressed with his playing. I bought several of this albums after his stint Maynard as well as some of his recent CD's. Real creative player.