Frank Wess

Frank Wess (born January 4, 1922 in Kansas City) is an American jazz musician who has played saxophone and flute.

Biography
He began with classical music and played in Oklahoma. He later switched to jazz on moving to Washington, D. C. and by nineteen was working in the Big Bands. His career was interrupted during World War II although he did play with a military band in the period. On returning from service he joined Billy Eckstine's orchestra.

He returned to DC a few years after this and received a degree in flute at the city's Modern School Of Music. From 1953 he joined Count Basie's band, playing flute and tenor sax. He reverted to alto sax in the late '50s, and left Basie's band in 1964. From 1959 to 1964 he won Down Beat's critic poll for flute.

He was a member of Clark Terry's big band from 1967 into the '70s and played in the New York Jazz Quartet (with Roland Hanna). Since then he has done a variety of TV shows and telethons. In the '80s and '90s, he worked with Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid, Buck Clayton, Benny Carter, Billy Taylor, Harry Edison, Mel Tormé, Ernestine Anderson, Louie Bellson, John Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Dick Hyman, Byron Stripling, Jane Jarvis, Frank Vignola and was a featured member of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra.

Wess also contributed to the landmark Jazz Composer's Orchestra 1968 eponymous album.

In 2007 Wess was named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.

As leader

 * Jazz for Playboys (Savoy, 1957) with guitarist Kenny Burrell
 * Wheelin' & Dealin' (Prestige, 1957) with the Prestige All stars featuring John Coltrane and pianist Mal Waldron
 * Opus De Blues (Savoy, 1959)
 * The Frank Wess Quartet (Moodsville, 1960)
 * Southern Comfort (Prestige, 1962)
 * Yo Ho! Poor You, Little Me (Prestige, 1963)
 * Wess to Memphis (1970)
 * Flute of the Loom (1973)
 * Entre Nous (1990) (Concord Jazz)
 * Going Wess (1993) trio, Wess playing mainly tenor saxophone.
 * Hank and Frank - (2002) with pianist Hank Jones, both men in their 80s.
 * Two for the Blues (with Frank Foster)
 * ''Hank and Frank II - (2009) with pianist Hank Jones.

As sideman
With Toshiko Akiyoshi With Gene Ammons With Dorothy Ashby With Count Basie With Bobby Hutcherson With Milt Jackson With Elvin Jones With Thad Jones With Yusef Lateef With Oliver Nelson With Chico O'Farrill With Houston Person With Zoot Sims With Melvin Sparks With Billy Taylor
 * Carnegie Hall Concert
 * Velvet Soul (Prestige, 1960 [1964])
 * Angel Eyes (Prestige, 1960 [1965])
 * The Jazz Harpist (Regent, 1957)
 * In a Minor Groove (New Jazz, 1958)
 * Hip Harp (Prestige, 1958)
 * One O'Clock Jump (1957)
 * E=MC² (1957)
 * April in Paris (1957)
 * Ella and Basie! (1963)
 * ''First Time! The Count Meets the Duke (1961)(With the orchestras of Count Basie and Duke Ellington)
 * Conception: The Gift of Love (Columbia, 1979)
 * Meet Milt Jackson (Savoy, 1955)
 * Opus de Jazz (Savoy, 1955)
 * Bags & Flutes (Atlantic, 1957)
 * Elvin! (Riverside, 1961–62)
 * And Then Again (Atlantic, 1965)
 * Time Capsule (Vanguard, 1977)
 * Olio (Prestige, 1957)
 * After Hours (Prestige, 1957)
 * Part of the Search (Atlantic, 1973)
 * The Spirit of '67 with Pee Wee Russell (Impulse!, 1967)
 * Nine Flags (Impulse!, 1966)
 * Sweet Buns & Barbeque (Prestige, 1972)
 * Passion Flower: Zoot Sims Plays Duke Ellington (1979)
 * Akilah! (Prestige, 1972)
 * Billy Taylor with Four Flutes (Riverside, 1959)
 * Kwamina (Mercury, 1961)