John Gilmore

John Gilmore (September 28, 1931 – August 20, 1995) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and percussionist. and led The Sun Ra Arkestra from Sun Ra's death in 1993 until his own death in 1995.

Biography Gilmore was raised in Chicago and played clarinet from the age of 14. He took up the tenor saxophone while serving in the United States Air Force from 1948 through 1951.

In the late 1950s Gilmore co-led a band with Clifford Jordan while simultaneously playing with Arkestra. During this period Gilmore also performed with jazz drummer Wilbur Campbell (1958), trumpeter Miles Davis (1959), saxophonist Johnny Griffin (1959), singer Dinah Washington (1959), and pianist Andrew Hill (1959); the latter of whom he had gone to school with as a boy in Chicago. and that "I'm not gonna run across anybody who's moving as fast as Sun Ra ... So I just stay where I am."

Gilmore occasionally doubled on drums and also played bass clarinet until Sun Ra hired Robert Cummings as a specialist on the latter instrument in the mid-1950s. However, tenor sax was his main instrument and Gilmore himself made a huge contribution to Sun Ra's recordings and was the Arkestra's leading sideman, being given solos on almost every track on which he appeared. In the Rough Guide to Jazz, Brian Priestley says: Gilmore is known for two rather different styles of tenor playing. On performances of a straight ahead post-bop character (which include many of those with Sun Ra), he runs the changes with a fluency and tone halfway between Johnny Griffin and Wardell Gray, and with a rhythmic and motivic approach which he claims influenced Coltrane. On more abstract material, he is capable of long passages based exclusively on high-register squeals. Especially when heard live, Gilmore was one of the few musicians who carried sufficient conviction to encompass both approaches.

In the early 1970s, Gilmore moved to Philadelphia with Sun Ra and the other members of Arkestra. Marshall Allen then took over leading the Arkestra.

Discography As co-leader Blowing in from Chicago (Blue Note, 1957) co-leader with Cliff Jordan

As sideman With Sun Ra Refer to the Sun Ra discography With Paul Bley Turning Point (Improvising Artists, 1975 rec. 1964) With Freddie Hubbard The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard (Impulse!, 1962) With McCoy Tyner Today and Tomorrow (Impulse!, 1963) With Elmo Hope Sounds from Rikers Island (Audio Fidelity, 1963) With Andrew Hill Andrew!!! (Blue Note, 1964) Compulsion! (Blue Note, 1966) With Art Blakey 'S Make It (Limelight, 1965) With Pete La Roca Turkish Women at the Bath (Douglas, 1967) also released as Bliss! With Phil Upchurch Feeling Blue (Milestone, 1967) With Dizzy Reece From In to Out (Futura, 1970)