Aaron Sachs is a well known jazz saxophone and clarinet player.

Overview

Sachs started as a young swing protege of Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

, and later eased into bebop

Bebop

Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...

 music, playing with Earl Fatha Hines. He then formed his own bands, with some success recording and touring. He married singer Helen Merrill

Helen Merrill

Helen Merrill is an internationally known jazz vocalist.Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy as well as in her native United States...

 in 1948, a union which lasted only a few years. Their only child was their son, Allan P Sachs, professionally known as Alan Merrill

Alan Merrill

Alan Merrill is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. In the early 1970s Merrill was the first westerner to achieve pop star status in Japan...

 born in 1951. In the 1960s, Aaron Sachs went into Latin music, playing with the greats of that genre, including Machito

Machito

Machito , born as Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music...

, Tito Puente

Tito Puente

Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...

, and Tito Rodriguez

Tito Rodriguez

Tito Rodríguez was a popular 1950s and 1960s Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He is known by many fans as "El Inolvidable" , a moniker based on his most popular interpretation, a song written by composer Julio Gutierrez.-Early years:Rodríguez , born in Santurce, Puerto Rico,...

.
Aaron Sachs has written a hit song for Tito Rodriguez, titled "El Mundo De Las Locas" and also composed for drum legend Louis Bellson, with the mainstay tune "Blast off".
He also co-wrote a popular song for bandleader Machito with Henry Glover

Henry Glover

Henry Glover was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpet player. In the music industry of the time, Glover was one of the more successful, and influential, black executives. He gained eminence in the late 1940s, primarily working for the independent King label...

 during the twist dance craze titled "Twist Changa" (parts one and two) a double a-sided single in 1959, on Roulette records.

Recordings

Sachs recorded several solo albums (cf. discography). He has also recorded with Stan Getz

Stan Getz

Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...

, Sarah Vaughn, Chet Baker

Chet Baker

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...

, Billie Holliday, Red Norvo

Red Norvo

Red Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...

, Gene Krupa

Gene Krupa

Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...

, Anita O'Day

Anita O'Day

Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...

, Cozy Cole

Cozy Cole

Cozy Cole was an American jazz drummer who scored a #1 Cashbox magazine hit with the record "Topsy Part 2". "Topsy" peaked at number three on Billboard Hot 100, and at number one on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The track peaked at #29 in the UK...

, and many other significant artists in the jazz field.

Selected discography

• Aaron Sachs (Bethlehem Records)
• Clarinet and Co.
• We Brought Our Axes
• Jazzville, Vol. 3 (Dawn, Fresh Sound, 1956)

External links

• Aaron Sachs - Official Website
• [ Allmusic discography]