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Percy France

13K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  Dan Gould  
#1 ·
Does anyone know anything about Percy France?

I used to think he, and not Clifford Scott, played tenor on Honky Tonk, and recall seeing him in a club near Columbia U in NY in the '80s.

He played a fantastic set, using a combo of jazz and R&B, showing a lot of technique.

But now I can't find anything about him on the web.
 
#4 ·
This quote came from the following link from Sax Gordon's Website.

"Hot Doggett - Bill Doggett (LP King 514)
While every aspiring R&B sax player should learn the classic Bill Doggett hits to hear the work of Clifford Scott, (the tenor sax giant who's sophisticated but rocking and bluesy solos helped make tunes like Honky Tonk, Ram-Bunk-Shush and Big Boy among the biggest instrumental R&B hits of the 50's), I particularly love this early Doggett LP that features Percy France on tenor, a perfect example of great, swinging, small band arrangement and concise, rocking, jazz-influenced solos from organist Doggett, guitarist Billy Butler and Percy."

http://www.saxgordon.com/articles/saxophone_journal.htm
 
#8 ·
Yeah, that club in the 80's by Columbia University NYC was called The West End and it was really nice then. you could catch Percy France, Benny Waters, some Ellingtonians, Panama Francis. it was a student run bar hangout by the University and had a book store next door too. WKCR's Phil Schaap and others did the promotions usually along with live broadcasts. very cool.
 
#9 ·
Now that i remember that far back in that time period there was Eddie Barefield who blew a mean tenor sax in the same Jazz swing R&B way that is a lost art the way they used glissando, shakes, finger vibrato, laughs, screams,growls, and other odd effects very effectively.
 
#10 ·
Boy. I haven't been here in a while, but I'm sure glad I asked the question in the first place. I've picked up some old Doggett, and it's fantastic.

I can't find the Fredie Roach though. does anyone know where I can get a copy?

TinPalaceRoach: Yes. The West End. Thank you for bringing that back to me. Not too many places like that anymore.

WT
 
#11 ·
just found this thread and I hope it's not too late to chime in - Percy was a good friend of mine, great tenor player and one who, when left to his own style, was really closest to a swing/bebop feel (think Don Byas, Illinois Jacquet). Brilliant tenor player and sweetheart of a guy. If anyone is interested I put out a CD of him awhile back and still have lots of copies - an excellent, "live" session, very straight-ahead, with Percy, Dick Katz on piano, and Jeff Fuller on bass - I am selling them very cheap just to get the word out, $7 shipped in the USA. (here's a cover shot - the unidentified bassist is Aaron Bell; this is a shot from my wedding band, 1982) -
 

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#13 ·
https://crownpropeller.wordpress.com/category/percy-france/

I have one of his last saxophones: a Selmer Super action 80 Series II which I bought from his sister, Yvonne Simmons, about 10 years ago. He was on Home Cooking with Willy Smith and played with Doc Cheatham at the West End in NYC in the 1980s. A Google search will reveal a lot of videos of him with some great players. He was definitely underappreciated and one of the greats in the NYC jazz scene.