Steve Marcus (September 18, 1939[1] – September 25, 2005)[2] was an American jazz saxophonist.

Biography

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Marcus was born in The Bronx, New York, United States.[1] He studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, between 1959 and 1961.[1] He gained experience playing in the bands of Stan Kenton, Herbie Mann and Larry Coryell from 1963 to 1973.[1] His first album as a leader included an arrangement of the Beatles' song, "Tomorrow Never Knows". He worked with jazz drummer Buddy Rich for the last twelve years of Rich's life.[1] After Rich died, Marcus led the band and renamed it Buddy's Buddies.[2]

His song "Half a Heart" (1968) has a riff very similar to the famous saxophone riff of "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty (recorded in 1977, released in 1978).

Marcus died in September 2005 in New Hope, Pennsylvania.[2]

Discography

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As leader/co-leader

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  • Tomorrow Never Knows (Vortex, 1968)
  • Count's Rock Band (Vortex, 1969)
  • The Lord's Prayer (Vortex, 1969)
  • Green Line with Miroslav Vitous, Sonny Sharrock, Daniel Humair (Nivico, 1970)
  • Something with Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media (Nippon Columbia, 1971) – recorded in 1970
  • Sometime Other Than Now (Flying Dutchman, 1976)
  • Steve Marcus & 2o1 (Red Baron, 1992)
  • Smile (Red Baron, 1993)
  • Count's Jam Band Reunion (Tone Center, 2001) – recorded in 2000
  • Steve Marcus Project (Mighty Quinn Productions, 2007)

As sideman

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With Gary Burton

With Larry Coryell

With Jazz Composer's Orchestra

With Stan Kenton

With Herbie Mann

With Bob Thiele Collective

  • Lion Hearted (Red Baron, 1993)

With Young Rascals

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1615. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ a b c Fordham, John (23 October 2005). "Obituary: Steve Marcus". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2019.