Joe Temperley

Baritonist Joe Temperley was the perfect musician to fill in for Harry Carney during re-creations of Duke Ellington's music, a role that often overshadowed his own fine voice. Temperley actually started on the alto and recorded on tenor with English bands led by Harry Parry (1949), Jack Parnell, Tony Crombie, and Tommy Whittle. He stuck to baritone during a long association with Humphrey Lyttelton's popular band (1958-1965). In 1965, Temperley moved to New York, working with a variety of big bands (including Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, and Clark Terry). In 1974, he became the first replacement for Harry Carney with the Mercer Ellington Orchestra and then freelanced with the who's who of jazz including (starting in 1990) the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis. Temperley recorded several fine albums as a leader, most notably for the Scottish Hep label; on the centennial of Ellington's birth, he released 1999's Double Duke. He died at his home in Manhattan in May 2016 at the age of 86. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi