Paul Gonsalves

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Paul Gonsalves (Template:Birth date – Template:Death date) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist<ref>"Paul Gonsalves", Allaboutjazz.com. Template:Webarchive</ref> best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,"<ref>[{{#ifeq: yes | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p6589/biography{{

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}} Allmusic biography]</ref> a performance credited with revitalizing Ellington's waning career in the 1950s.<ref>Larson, Thomas E. The History and Tradition of Jazz, p. 106. Google Books.</ref>

Biography

Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, to Portuguese Cape Verdean parents, Gonsalves' first instrument was the guitar, and as a child he was regularly asked to play Cape Verdean folk songs for his family. He grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and played as a member of the Sabby Lewis Orchestra.<ref name="LarkinGE">Template:Cite book</ref> His first professional engagement in Boston was with the same group on tenor saxophone, in which he played before and after his military service during World War II.<ref>Carr, Ian and Digby Fairweather, Brian Priestley The Rough Guide to Jazz. Google Books.</ref> He also played with fellow Cape Verdean Americans in Phil Edmund's band in the 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Before joining Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1950, he also played in big bands led by Count Basie (1947–1949) and Dizzy Gillespie (1949–1950).<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves' solo in Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" went through 27 choruses; the publicity from this performance is credited with reviving Ellington's career.<ref name="LarkinGE"/><ref>Martin, Henry and Keith Waters Jazz: the first 100 years, Cengage Learning, p. 150. Google Books.</ref> The performance is captured on the album Ellington at Newport. Gonsalves was a featured soloist in numerous Ellingtonian settings.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He received the nickname "The Strolling Violins" from Ellington for playing solos while walking through the crowd.<ref>"Paul Gonsalves, Ellington band saxophonist," May 18, 1974. St. Petersburg Times</ref>

Gonsalves died in London ten days before Duke Ellington's death, after a lifetime of addiction to alcohol and narcotics.<ref name="LarkinGE"/><ref>Downbeat magazine, March 16, 1961, page 11, reports "Ellingtonians arrested in Vegas" "Ray Nance, Willie Cook. Andrew (Fats) Ford as well as Paul Gonsalves...the sheriff's squad seized...heroin plus hypodermic needles, eye droppers and other paraphernalia of the narcotic user"</ref> Mercer Ellington refused to tell Duke of the passing of Gonsalves, fearing the shock might further accelerate his father's decline. Ellington and Gonsalves, along with trombonist Tyree Glenn, lay side by side in the same New York funeral home for a period of time.<ref>Hasse, John Edward Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, Da Capo Press, p. 385. Google Books.</ref>

Gonsalves is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.