Saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Don Rendell made his way to the top of the British jazz scene in the latter half of the 20th century. Born March 4, 1926 in Plymouth, England, Rendell was raised in London and played the saxophone for Allied troops at USO shows during World War II. He spent the 1950s and early ‘60s performing with various stars like Stan Kenton, Billie Holiday, and Johnny Dankworth before he launched into his career-making collaboration with trumpeter Ian Carr.

After meeting in 1962, Rendell and Carr spent three years honing their sound before delivering Shades of Blue in 1965, the first in a series of albums from the Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet that spanned the rest of the decade. Their output for Columbia Records included the highly-acclaimed Dusk Fire in 1966 and closed out with Change Is in 1969 as Carr ventured off to form the band Nucleus. Rendell continued as a sideman through the 1970s, and eventually settled into a role as an educator, first at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the mid-’80s. Rendell participated in a final session in 2001, and died in London on October 15, 2015.

Don Rendell

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