Alto Saxophonist Earl Anderza: "Outa Sight!

The last of our obscure, underrated and under recorded exponents of the alto saxophone makes an appearance tonight. Earl Anderza is perhaps the most mysterious. Due to an unfortunate personal life from foster homes to reform school to jail terms Anderza was little known or heard. He was born in Los Angeles in 1933 and died in 1982 in Chicago before his 50th birthday. Somewhere along the line he learned the clarinet and alto saxophone. He was a boyhood friend of Eric Dolphy's and they both studied with the great teacher Lloyd Reece. Earl Anderza only made one recording under his name and it was his first and last. He was heard at a session on one of his releases from jail by Richard Bock, the head of World Pacific Records who was impressed by Earl and made this recording. Earl picked the great pianist Jack Wilson, bassists George Morrow (who is on most tracks) and Jimmy Bond, who plays on a couple. The drummer is the swingin' Donald Dean. There are 3 tunes by Earl and the title track is by Jack Wilson. The rest are known quality standards. This is a fine portrait of a musician who had the potential to be great but his life style held him back from success. Outa Sight! is all we have and we should be happy with this small sample. Check Earl Anderza out!