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Obituaries
Fred Anderson dies
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 28 June 2010
Jazz man Fred Anderson has died aged 81. According to the LA Times, he suffered a heart attack on 14 Jun, his sons Eugene and Michael confirmed this weekend.
Born in Louisiana in 1929, Anderson was a tenor saxophonist, and worked as a jobbing musician for years, before coming to wider attention more as a club owner. He opened the Velvet Lounge in Chicago in 1982, the name based on a review of his own saxophone playing, which described his sound as being “velvety smooth”.
The club became a key institution in the Chicago jazz scene, and became particularly known for its championing of contemporary jazz and new talent, many of whom were personally coached by Anderson, who also oversaw the management of the venue on a day-to-day basis, even as far as manning the bar on occasion.
Anderson became better known as a musician in his own right in the 1990s when recordings of his performances started to be released. As a result, he became a regular on the jazz festival circuit.
Known for his innovative style and passion for more cutting edge jazz – a passion which arguably commercially hindered his own career in the early days – veteran alto saxophonist Jimmy Ellis told The Chicago Tribune newspaper last week that Anderson was “the essence of music in Chicago”, while jazz guitarist George Freeman said: “Fred has always been different. He was doing his own thing, he did it his way”.
