Andrew White was born on September 6, 1942, and passed away on November 11, 2020. He was an American musician who played the saxophone, oboe, and bass guitar. He also studied music and worked as a publisher.

Biography

Andrew White was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed his public school education. In September 1960, he returned to Washington, D.C., to study at Howard University. He graduated in June 1964 with honors, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. His major was music theory, and his minor was the oboe. After four years at Howard University, he went to the Paris Conservatory of Music in Paris, France, to continue studying the oboe on a John Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship.

As a saxophonist, White began performing in jazz in September 1960, around the same time he finished his studies at Howard University. He joined Washington, D.C.’s J.F.K. Quintet (1961–63), which recorded two albums for the Riverside label. Later, he performed with musicians such as Kenny Clarke (1965), Otis Redding (1967), McCoy Tyner (1970), Elvin Jones (1980–81), Beaver Harris (1983), The Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextet (1987), a Dutch saxophone sextet called "The Six Winds" (1999), and his own group, Andrew White’s ZORROSAX ALLSTARS (2002). He also gave hundreds of solo performances worldwide, including at places like New York City’s Carnegie Hall (1974 and 1975), Lincoln Center (1990 and 1995), Town Hall (1975), The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (1970–2005), Paris, France’s Theatre du Chatelet (1980), La Vila (1995), and a 1994 solo tour of seven French cities.

As a composer, publisher, conductor, and saxophone soloist, White performed with the Mass Double Reed Orchestra, which had 300 double reed instruments, at the 32nd Annual Convention of the International Double Reed Society in June 2003 at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina.

White’s ten-year career as an oboist included studying at Tanglewood, Massachusetts, in the summers of 1963 and 1966. He also played in The Dartmouth Community Orchestra at Dartmouth College and studied contemporary music at The Center of Creative and Performing Arts at the State University of New York, Buffalo, on two Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships from 1965–1967. His final job as an oboist was as principal oboist with the American Ballet Theatre from January 1968 through August 1970.

As an electric bassist, White’s main career was from 1966 to 1976. He worked as the electric bassist for singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder from 1968 through August 1970, at the same time he was the oboist for the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra. He was also the principal electric bassist for The 5th Dimension from 1970 to 1976. One of his most famous recordings as an electric bassist was on Weather Report’s album Sweetnighter, released in January 1973 on Columbia Records.

On May 14, 2006, White was honored as the 2006 Gold Medal recipient by the French Society of Arts, Sciences, and Letters in Paris. He shared the award with past honorees such as violinist-conductor Lord Yehudi Menuhin, trumpeter Maurice André, composer Olivier Messiaen, and scientist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer. White was the only American to receive this award in 2006.

As a musicologist, White published many works through his music publishing company, Andrew’s Music. These included The Works of John Coltrane, Volumes 1 through 14, which contained 701 transcriptions of John Coltrane’s improvisations. His book on John Coltrane’s music, Trane and Me (1981), was also published in this way.

On November 15, 2007, White was honored as a saxophonist by Howard University with the Benny Golson Master Award. The ceremony and concert featured the Howard University Jazz Ensemble, directed by Fred Irby, at Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Chapel.

Discography

• Who Got de Funk? (Andrew's Music, 1973)
• Live in Bucharest (Andrews, 1973)
• Andrew Nathaniel White III (Andrew's, 1973)
• Live at the New Thing in Washington D.C. (Andrew's, 1973)
• Passion Flower (Andrew's, 1974)
• Songs for a French Lady (Andrew's, 1974)
• Theme (Andrew's, 1974)
• Live at the Foolery in Washington D.C. Vol. One (Andrew's, 1975)
• Live at the Foolery in Washington D.C. Vol. Two (Andrew's, 1975)
• Live at the Foolery in Washington D.C. Vol. Three (Andrew's, 1975)
• Live at the Foolery in Washington D.C. Vol. Four (Andrew's, 1975)
• Live at the Foolery in Washington D.C. Vol. Five (Andrew's, 1975)
• Live at the Foolery in Washington D.C. Vol. Six (Andrew's, 1975)
• Collage (Andrew's, 1975)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 1 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 2 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 3 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 4 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 6 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 7 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 8 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Marathon '75 Vol. 9 (Andrew's, 1976)
• Red Top (Andrew's, 1977)
• Miss Ann (Andrew's, 1977)
• Countdown (Andrew's, 1977)
• Seven Giant Steps for Coltrane (Andrew's, 1977)
• Ebony Glaze (Andrew's, 1977)
• Trinkle, Trinkle (Andrew's, 1977)
• Spotts, Maxine and Brown (Andrew's, 1977)
• Bionic Saxophone (Andrew's, 1978)
• Live in New York Vol. One (Andrew's, 1978)
• Live in New York Vol. Two (Andrew's, 1978)
• Saxophonitis (Andrew's, 1979)
• Fonk Update (Andrew's, 1981)
• Have Band Will Travel (Andrew's, 1981)
• I Love Japan (Andrew's, 1981)
• Profile (Andrew's, 1984)
• Gigtime 2000 Vol. 1 Nouveau Fonk (Andrew's, 1999)
• Gigtime 2000 Vol. 2 Andrew's Theme (Andrew's, 1999)
• Gigtime 2000 Vol. 3 Everybody Loves the Sugar (