Sax Kari

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Sax Kari
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
GenresR&B, disco, funk
Occupation(s)Musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, piano, organ, saxophone
Years active1930s–1990s

Sax Kari (February 6, 1920 – October 1, 2009), born Isaac Columbus Toombs Jr.,

R&B
music lasting from the 1920s to the 1990s. He also used pseudonyms, including Ira Green, Texas Red, Dirty Red Morgan, and Candy Yams.

Life and career

He was born in Chicago, the son of

reed instruments, and by 1940 was living in Gary, Indiana, with his mother.[4] He worked in bands as a guitarist, and in 1942 took Charlie Christian's place in the orchestra at the Lyon's Den club in Oklahoma City.[1] He began working with and for club owner and entrepreneur Denver D. Ferguson in Indianapolis in the early 1940s, promoting concerts and helping Ferguson set up the network later known as the "Chitlin' Circuit".[1][2]

He formed his own eighteen-piece touring band, and settled in Detroit around 1945. He made his first recordings with his orchestra for

R&B chart. The record was credited to "Swinging Sax Kari" and featured singer Gloria Irving.[6]

During the 1950s he worked with

Vee Jay.[7] In 1959, he produced the single "You're So Fine" by The Falcons, a group that included Mack Rice, Eddie Floyd and Robert Ward. The song reached #2 on the R&B chart and #17 on the pop chart.[2]

In the early 1960s, he moved to

Miami, Florida, writing for George McCrae, Wilson Pickett and others.[7][8] He composed the soundtrack for the 1978 blaxploitation movie The Six Thousand Dollar Nigger, also known as Super Soul Brother, starring Wildman Steve.[2][9]

He wrote for

Tampa area, often billed under his old nickname as "Candy Yams".[2] In 1997, he released a CD, Love Juice, credited to Candy Yams and the Bluesville Express.[5]

He retired to Brandon, Florida, where he was interviewed by Preston Lauterbach and provided much of the background information for Lauterbach's book, The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll.[9] Sax Kari died in Florida in 2009, aged 89.[2]

A compilation of his New Orleans recordings, Fumigate Funky Broadway, was issued on CD in 2002.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc, Blues: A Regional Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2013, p.65
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Preston Lauterbach, The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll, W. W. Norton & Company, 2011, pp.2–4
  3. ^ Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, 1871–1922, Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
  4. ^ 1940 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com. retrieved November 3, 2015
  5. ^ a b c d Pete Hoppula, "Sax Kari Discography", WangDangDula.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 239.
  7. ^ a b Saxton Kari, Credits, Discogs.com. Retrieved November 3, 2015
  8. ^ "Case Four: Charles 'Soul' Brown", Soul Detective, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2015
  9. ^ a b Preston Lauterbach, "Sax Kari". Retrieved November 3, 2015

External links

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