Marshall Royal was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

tist and alto saxophonist

Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

 best known for his work with Count Basie

Count Basie

William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...

, with whose band he played for nearly twenty years.

Royal was born in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, the elder brother of trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

er Ernie Royal

Ernie Royal

Ernest Andrew Royal was a jazz trumpeter.His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording The Genius of Ray Charles .He began in Los Angeles as a member of Les Hite's Orchestra in 1937...

, and learned to play violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, as well as clarinet and sax while still a child. He first performed in public at the age of thirteen, starting his professional career with an eight-year stint with Les Hite

Les Hite

Les Hite was an American jazz bandleader.Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. Following this, he played with Detroit Shannon and then the Helen Dewey Show, but when this group disbanded abruptly, Hite relocated to Los Angeles...

's band (1931–1939), during which time he also recorded with Art Tatum

Art Tatum

Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...

. He spent 1940 to 1942 with Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

, until the war interrupted his career. After his military service (during which he played in a Navy band), Royal played with Eddie Heywood

Eddie Heywood

Eddie Heywood was a jazz pianist who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr...

, then went on to work in studios in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

In 1951 Royal replaced Buddy DeFranco

Buddy DeFranco

Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...

 as clarinettist with Count Basie's septet

Septet

A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry....

, which Basie had formed after circumstances forced him to dissolve his big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

. When the Basie band was reformed the following year, Royal stayed on as lead alto saxophonist and as music director — not to leave until 1970. Though he was admired as an occasional soloist, his main rôle was as an important part of the reeds section, and as a leader who helped to give Basie's sound its distinctively precise yet swinging character.

When he left Basie in 1970, Royal settled permanently in Los Angeles, continuing to play and record, working with Bill Berry

Bill Berry

William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....

's big band, Frank Capp

Frank Capp

Frank Capp is an American jazz drummer.Capp was born August 20, 1931 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He began playing with Stan Kenton starting in 1951 and remained with Kenton for some time. Later he joined Neal Hefti's group. He often accompanied Peggy Lee on some of her road dates and...

 and Nat Pierce

Nat Pierce

Nat Pierce was an American jazz pianist and arranger born in Somerville, Massachusetts, perhaps best-known for being pianist and arranger for the Woody Herman band from 1951–1955...

, 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...

, and Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

.

Royal recorded as a soloist with Dave Frishberg

Dave Frishberg

Dave Frishberg is an American jazz pianist, vocalist and composer born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Frishberg resisted learning classical piano as a boy, developing an interest in blues and boogie-woogie by listening to recordings by Pete Johnson and Jay McShann. As a teenager he played in the house...

 in 1977, and with Warren Vache

Warren Vache

Warren Vaché is a jazz trumpeter, cornetist and flugelhornist born in Rahway, New Jersey. He came from a musical family as his father was a bassist. In 1976 he released his first album...

 in 1978. He co-led a band with Snooky Young

Snooky Young

Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.-Biography:...

 in the 1970s and 1980s, recording with it in 1978, and with Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

 and Gene Harris

Gene Harris

Gene Harris was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz....

, among others. In 1989 he took the lead alto chair with Frank Wess

Frank Wess

Frank Wess is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone and flute.-Biography:...

's big band.

Discography

• 1960: Gordon Jenkins Presents (Everest)
• 1978: First Chair (Concord Jazz)
• 1978: Snooky and Marshall's Album with Snooky Young
  Snooky Young
  Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.-Biography:...
  
  
• 1980: Royal Blue (Concord Jazz)

Sources and external links

• Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. Jazz: The Rough Guide. ISBN 1-86356-526-3
• [ Marshall Royal] — brief biography by Chris Kelsey at AllMusic
• Recorded Telephone Interview of Frank Foster — alumnus of the Basie band recalls how Marshal Royal would read "Jet" magazine on his stand while he performed