Biography
James Robert Forrest, 24 January 1920, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, d. 26 August 1980, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Forrest’s early experience on tenor saxophone came in territory bands, including the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra, Don Albert’s San Antonio-based band and the group led by Fate Marable. In 1940, he joined Jay ‘Hootie’ McShann in Kansas City, where one of his section-mates was Charlie Parker. This was followed by a long period in New York with Andy Kirk, but by the end of the 40s he was back home in St. Louis. He had a huge R&B hit with ‘Night Train’, which actually owed more than was usually credited to a Duke Ellington composition, ‘Happy-Go-Lucky Local’. At the end of the 50s he was back in New York, this time with Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, after which he led his own bands for records and club dates that lasted into the early 70s. He was then with Count Basie for a number of years and also played with the...
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