Florence Kathleen "Kathy" Stobart (b. 1 April 1925 South Shields

South Shields

South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...

) is a British jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 saxophonist. Her concentration is on tenor sax.

Stobart first learned piano as a child. After picking up saxophone, she first played locally in Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 and then in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in the 1940s with Denis Rose

Denis Rose

Denis Rose was an English jazz pianist and trumpeter. He was a longtime fixture on the London jazz scene and was an early influence on British bebop....

, Ted Heath and Jimmy Skidmore

Jimmy Skidmore

James Richard 'Jimmy' Skidmore was an English jazz tenor saxophonist born in London and father to tenor and soprano saxophonist Alan Skidmore, perhaps best-known for his work with George Shearing from 1950-1952...

. Later that decade she played with Art Pepper

Art Pepper

Art Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist.About Pepper, Scott Yanow of All Music stated, "In the 1950s he was one of the few altoists that was able to develop his own sound despite the dominant influence of Charlie Parker" and: "When Art Pepper...

 and Peanuts Hucko

Peanuts Hucko

Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko was an American big band musician. His primary instrument was the clarinet.-Early life and education:...

. She played with pianist Art Thompson

Art Thompson

Arthur J. Thompson was a Major League Baseball pitcher in . He played in one game on June 17 for the Washington Nationals of the Union Association....

 in the late 1940s, and was married to him briefly. She toured with Vic Lewis

Vic Lewis

Vic Lewis was a British jazz guitarist and bandleader.Lewis began playing the guitar at the age of three, and dabbled with cornet and trombone. One of his early bands included George Shearing, then a teenager, among its members...

 in 1949 and led her own group in 1950-51; among its members were Derek Humble

Derek Humble

Derek Humble was an English jazz alto saxophonist.Humble was born at Livingston, Durham, England and played professionally from his teenage years. He was working with Kathy Stobart by 1950 and played with Vic Lewis in 1951 and Jack Parnell in 1952...

, Dill Jones

Dill Jones

Dillwyn Owen Paton Jones, or Dill Jones , was a Welsh jazz stride pianist.-Biography:Jones was born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, on 19 August 1923. He was brought up in New Quay on the Cardiganshire coast. Music was in the family as his mother was a pianist and his aunt played organ at the...

, and Bert Courtley; she was married to Courtley from 1951 until his death in 1969. In the 1950s and 1960s she went into semiretirement to raise her family. From 1969 to 1977 she played with Humphrey Lyttelton

Humphrey Lyttelton

Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...

. Following this she led her own groups, with Harry Beckett

Harry Beckett

Harold Winston "Harry" Beckett was a British trumpeter and flugelhorn player.-Biography:A resident in the UK since 1954, Harry Beckett had an international reputation. In 1961, he played with Charles Mingus in the film All Night Long. In the 1960s he worked and recorded within the band of bass...

, John Bunch

John Bunch

John Bunch was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Born and raised in Tipton, Indiana, a small farming community, he studied piano with George Johnson, a well-known Hoosier jazz pianist...

, and Lennie Best, among others. Aside from this she has played with Johnny Griffin

Johnny Griffin

John Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...

, Al Haig

Al Haig

Alan Warren Haig was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop.Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey...

, Earl Hines

Earl Hines

Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...

, Buddy Tate, Zoot Sims

Zoot Sims

John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...

, Marian McPartland

Marian McPartland

Margaret Marian McPartland, OBE is an English-born jazz pianist, composer, writer, and the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio, NPR.-Early life:...

, and Dick Hyman

Dick Hyman

Richard “Dick” Hyman is an American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer, best-known for his versatility with jazz piano styles. Over a 50 year career, he has functioned as pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and, increasingly, as composer...

.