ABSTRACT
Phil Woods, born November 2, 1931, and died September 29, 2015, grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, and began studying saxophone at age twelve. Woods and his fellow bandmates began playing club dates in their hometown, "Even as fourteen-year-olds, we could hold our own." In 1949 Woods moved to New York City, enrolling at the Juilliard School to study composition. Woods was among the first generation of young jazz musicians to discover the new bebop music created by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie "Bird" Parker, among others. Under Parker's influence, he was given the moniker "New Bird." Woods's experiences shifted from jazz to commercial work, playing jingles and pop music, eventually becoming a successful bandleader in his own right. Woods had no formal jazz education back then but everybody was dancing to the same beat and everybody had a gig. Every club on Long Island would have a jazz quartet, either saxophone or trumpet and a rhythm section.
