Herb Geller

Herbert Arnold Geller (November 2, 1928 – December 19, 2013) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He was born in Los Angeles. and, following an engagement in Los Angeles, the Gellers returned there to live. Among the groups Geller worked and recorded with were Shorty Rogers, Maynard Ferguson, Bill Holman, Shelly Manne, Marty Paich, Barney Kessel, André Previn, Quincy Jones, Wardell Gray, Jack Sheldon and Chet Baker. He accepted this engagement and performed there along with other Americans expatriates in Europe such as Benny Bailey, Joe Harris, and Nat Peck, as well as European musicians like Jerry van Rooyen, Åke Persson, and Francy Boland. In Berlin, he met his second wife, Christine Rabsch. Geller stayed there for three years and then accepted a contract to play lead alto and also arrange for the big band of NDR in Hamburg. Here, he was engaged for 28 years and made Hamburg his home. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Discography As leader 1954: Herb Geller Plays (EmArcy) 1955: The Gellers (EmArcy) 1955: The Herb Geller Sextette (EmArcy) 1955: Outpost Incident (EmArcy) – reissue of Sextette 1957: Fire in the West (Jubilee) 1958: Stax of Sax (Jubilee) 1959: Gypsy (ATCO) 1963: Alto Saxophone (Josie) – reissue of Fire in the West 1975: Rhyme and Reason: Herb Geller Octet Featuring Mark Murphy & Earl Jordan (Atlantic) 1975: American in Hamburg (Nova) 1984: Hot House (Circle) 1984: Fungi Mama (Circle) 1986: A Jazz Songbook (Enja) 1989: Stax of Sax (Fresh Sound) – reissue 1990: That Geller Feller (Fresh Sound) – reissue of Fire in the West 1994: The Herb Geller Quartet (V.S.O.P.) 1996: Birdland Stomp (Fresh Sound) 1996: Plays the Al Cohn Songbook (Hep) 1997: Playing Jazz (Fresh Sound) 1998: You're Looking at Me (Fresh Sound) 1998: I'll Be Back (Hep) 1999: Hollywood Portraits (Hep) 2002: To Benny and Johnny (Hep) 2005: The Herb Geller Sextette (Membran) – reissue from 1955 2005: The Gellers (Membran) – reissue from 1955 2006: Herb & Lorraine Geller: Two of a Kind Complete Recordings 1954–1955 (reissue/compilation) 2006: Plays the Arthur Schwartz Songbook (Hep) 2007: At the Movies with Don Friedman (Hep) 2009: An Evening with Herb Geller & The Roberto Magris Trio – Live in Europe 2009 (J Mood, 2014)

As sideman With Manny Albam Jazz Greats of Our Time, Vol. 2. (Coral) Jazz Lab Vol. 12 (MCA Coral, 1957) With Chet Baker The Trumpet Artistry of Chet Baker (Pacific Jazz, 1953) Grey December (Pacific Jazz, 1953; reissued 1992) My Favourite Songs Vols. 1 and 2: The Last Great Concert (Enja, 1988) My Funny Valentine (Philology) With Louie Bellson The Brilliant Bellson Sound (Verve, 1959) Louis Bellson at The Flamingo (Verve, 1959) With Clifford Brown Best Coast Jazz – (Emarcy 1954) – with Joe Maini, Walter Benton Clifford Brown All Stars (Emarcy, 1954) With Maynard Ferguson Jam Session featuring Maynard Ferguson (EmArcy, 1954) Dimensions (EmArcy, 1955) Maynard Ferguson Octet (EmArcy, 1955) Around the Horn with Maynard Ferguson (EmArcy, 1956) With Benny Goodman B.G. World Wide (TCB/SWI, 1956) Santiaga De Chile 1961 (TCB) Swing Swing Swing, Vol. 1- 5 (Musicmasters) Yale Recordings, Vols. 1- 6 (Musicmasters, 1991) Yale Recordings, Vol. 8 (Musicmasters, 1957) With Anita O'Day Anita O'Day Sings the Winners (Verve, 1991) Pick Yourself up with Anita O'Day (Verve, 1956) With Shorty Rogers Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (RCA Victor, 1954) Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers (RCA Victor, 1957) Portrait of Shorty (RCA Victor, 1957) Afro-Cuban Influence (RCA Victor, 1958) The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs (RCA Victor, 1959) with Dinah Washington Dinah Jams (EmArcy, 1954) Jam Session (EmArcy, 1954) – with Clifford Brown, Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry, Max Roach Dinah! (EmArcy, 1956)

With others The Alpin Power Plant Recorded in Switzerland (MPS, 1972) Bravissimo II – 50 Years NDR Bigband (ACT, 1998) Blue Night Special (Milan) (1993) Buddy Bregman Swinging Kicks (Verve, 1957) Benny Carter Over the Rainbow (MusicMasters, 1989) Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band & Stan Getz Change of Scenes (Verve, 1971) Don Fagerquist, Music to Fill a Void (V.S.O.P., 1957) Herbie Fields, Jazz Lab. Vol.9 (Coral, 1954) Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (Verve, 1956) Bob Florence And His Orchestra, Name Band: 1959 (Fresh Sound) Lorraine Geller, Lorraine Geller Memorial (Fresh Sound, 1954) Nils Gessinger, Ducks N Cookies (GRP, 1995) Nils Gessinger, Pass -ion (2011) John Graas Septet And Nonet Jazz Lab Vol. 19 (Coral) Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination and Brass, Wide Open (MPS, 1973) Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination and Brass Peter Herbolzheimer Masterpieces (MPS) Bill Holman, The Bill Holman Octet (Capitol,1954) Bill Holman, In a Jazz Orbit –(V.S.O.P., 1958) Quincy Jones, This Is How I Feel About Jazz (ABC Paramount/GRP, 1992) Stan Kenton This Modern World (Capitol, 1953); reissued on Plays Bob Graettinger: City Of Glass (Capitol, 1995) Barney Kessel Carmen (Contemporary, 1959) Rolf Kühn, Big Band Connection – (Milan) (1993) Jan Lundgren Trio with Herb Geller, Stockholm Get Together – (Fresh Sound) (1994) Roberto Magris Europlane feat. Herb Geller – Il Bello del Jazz (Soul Note, 2006) Shelly Manne, Shelly Manne & His Men Play Peter Gunn (Contemporary, 1959) Jack Millman, Jazz Lab. Vol. 11 (Coral, 1955) Marty Paich, The Picasso of Big Band Jazz (Candid, 1990) Ralph Pena, Master Of The Bass (V.S.O.P.) Art Pepper Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics (Contemporary, 1959) Jimmy Rowles, Weather In A Jazz Vane (V.S.O.P., 1958) Inga Rumpf With the NDR Big Band, It's A Man's World (Extra) Howard Rumsey, Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse Allstars (Contemporary) Wolfgang Schlüter with The NDR Big Band, Good Vibrations (Extra) Bill Smith Quintet Americans in Europe Vol. 1 (Impulse!, 1963) Earle Spencer (1949) Mel Tormé, Mel Tormé Collection (Rhino, 1996) Klaus Weiss Orchestra, Live At The Domicile (ATM) Klaus Weiss Orchestra, I Just Want to Celebrate (BASF, 1971) John Williams, Here's What I'm Here For (Discovery/Antones, 1957) Phil Wilson, The Wizard of Oz Suite (Capri, 1989)