Buddy Tate (by Ben Snipes)

David D. Spitzer, Buddy Tate, 1978, National Museum of 

African American History and Culture.

Out of the various different musicians that were listed in the Frank Driggs Collection, I have decided to write about American saxophonist and clarinetist, George Holmes Tate, or more commonly known as, Buddy Tate (1913-2001). He was originally from Sherman, Texas, and he started out playing the alto saxophone. Starting in the late 1920s he switched to the tenor saxophone, and began his career by playing with groups all over the southwest and collaborated and worked with somewhat major bandleaders, such as Andy Kirk, Nate Towles, and Terrence Holder. In 1939, Buddy’s fame skyrocketed whenever he had the opportunity to play in the Count Basie Orchestra, and stayed with them until 1948. Basie has actually selected Buddy himself to play in the group because Buddy has taken over the position after previous tenor saxophone player Herschel Evans passed away. What is even more crazy about this promotion is that Buddy admitted that this same scenario has happened in a dream he had beforehand.

A couple of years later, in 1953 he eventually found fame on his own terms and then started his job playing for the celebrity club for 21 years. In the late 1970s the mayor of his hometown had actually invited him to play at this concert, and claimed the day of the concert to be proclaimed as “Buddy Tate Day”. At this concert, he actually contacted old friends who played with him back when he was in the Count Basie Orchestra. After this, he has become a little bit inactive with his playing because of his age. In the early 1980s, he faced an injury by accidentally burning himself with extreme hot water in the shower of a hotel, and shortly after this incident he became severely ill. Soon after this, he was still active playing, but not like before. Close to his death date, he moved to Arizona to where he was being taken care of by his daughter. 12 days before his 88th birthday, he passed.

What makes Buddy Tate so special in this collection is that he is one of the many people in the early 20th century to basically pioneer and develop the start of jazz, which then transitions to the jazz we hear today. Frank Driggs did these interviews with these people because he wanted to get their insight on life from the beginning of jazz, and understand what has happened, and to grasp any advice and experiences explained from these musicians. It is really nice to hear from these musicians not because we are able to hear what they sound like, how they talk, or how their personalities are, but this is efficient and valuable information because this is information coming straight from them and not from a website that might contain false information.

Bibliography:
 

Tate, Buddy, performer, and Driggs, Frank, compiler. "Buddy Tate [sound recording], Lloyd Arman", 1976. UMKC Nichols Library Marr Sound Archives, FD-CASS-257.

https://merlin.lib.umsystem.edu/search~S3?/tFrank+Driggs+Collection./tfrank+driggs+collection/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CB/frameset&FF=tfrank+driggs+collection&34%2C%2C313

https://umkc.app.box.com/s/e0cve995t1f1kq38ujde9q4mmnr7j5q9/file/1312256958173