Allen Eager

Allen Eager (January 10, 1927 – April 13, 2003) was an American jazz tenor and alto saxophonist who also competed in auto racing and took part in LSD experiments.

Early life Allen Eager was born in New York City on January 10, 1927. He grew up in the Bronx. According to Denise McCluggage, Eager could read aged 3, and learned to drive at the age of 9 with the help of his mother, after she caught him driving a garbage truck near the hotels that his parents owned in the Catskill Mountains. He took clarinet lessons with David Weber of the New York Philharmonic at the age of 13.

Early career in jazz Eager briefly played with Woody Herman at the age of 15. His playing style on tenor saxophone was, along with contemporary saxophonists Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Al Cohn and others, strongly influenced by Lester Young; and was the best known and most respected of them at that point. Young's assessment was that "Allen Eager is [...] the best of the grey boys [white players]". He also adopted the drug dependency of a lot of the bebop players in the 1940s. These included Coleman Hawkins, with whom he recorded in 1946, Eager recorded with trumpeter Red Rodney for Keynote Records in 1947. Also in the late 1940s, Eager recorded with saxophonist Stan Getz. Some of these concerts were broadcast on the radio. Critic Ira Gitler commented positively on the concerts: "Whatever he played swung with a happy, light-footed quality and pure-toned beauty".

Eager played with Gerry Mulligan in 1951, with Terry Gibbs in 1952, and shortly after with Buddy Rich. He then briefly abandoned music and became a ski and horse riding instructor. He lived in Paris from 1956 to 1957, After this, he essentially retired from jazz. Eager mentioned the death of Charlie Parker (in 1955) and his own problems with drug addiction as reasons for his withdrawal from the scene.

Later life Eager went on to pursue other activities such as skiing, competitive auto racing, and LSD experiments with Timothy Leary. He became a ski patroller when the Hunter Mountain ski resort opened, and was there introduced to racing car driver Denise McCluggage. Encouraged by their success, they flew the car to Europe and took part in the 1000 km Nürburgring; Eager crashed.

Eager occasionally dabbled in music again, playing alto saxophone Ira Gitler noted that "The years away from his horn had made him rusty; moreover, the old fire and fine timing were heard only in fleeting moments". O'Brien described Eager as "a temperamental guy" Some other tours in Europe were with Chet Baker. in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was survived by his ex-wife, Nancy, two daughters, a son, and two granddaughters.

Discography This section contains only albums, some of which were made up in part of tracks previously or simultaneously released as singles. Tracks and albums have often been reissued and repackaged; where possible, only an early release is listed.

An asterisk (*) indicates that the date is that of release.

As leader Year recordedTitleLabelNotes1982*RenaissanceUptown RecordsQuartet, with Hod O'Brien (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass), Jimmy Wormworth (drums)

As sideman

Compilations that include previously unreleased recordings