Joe Saye...
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Joe Saye discography...
Joe Saye was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1923. He was blind from the age of two and learnt to play piano and accordian, touring with Roy Fox, playing accordian in 1937-'38. After eight years in vaudeville he formed his own group and played club bookings and summer seasons in the 1940s and in 1950 he was in Howard Lucraft's sextet playing accordian. He again led his own trio in the early 1950s and in 1953 formed a sextet for a London club residency. He emigrated to the US in August, 1955 and enjoyed success throughout North America with his own group, (Joe Saye's Scottish Jazz Trio), and as an accompanist for Dakota Staton among others. He moved from New York to Toronto, Canada in the early 1970s to run his own booking agency. He recorded in London and New York, details of his London records are shown below...


Joe Saye c1956/7
Joe Saye Trio - April 12th, 1951 (Melodisc)
Joe Saye (p,accor), Johnny Wiltshire (g), Lawrence Anthony (b).
Harlem Nocturne/Unison Me/Music Masters (unissued)/Three Of A Kind/Forte/Pink Champagne.

June 28th, 1951 (Decca)
Personnel as April 12th.
Don'y Mention Wives To The Sultan/Cabin On The Shore.

April 27th, 1952 (Melodisc)
Personnel as April 12th, 1951.
These Foolish Things/Love Walked In/The Old Music Master/Lullaby Of Broadway/Quiet Rhythm Blues/What Is this Thing Called Love.

Gavin Adair has a 10" acetate disc titled BBC Jazz for Moderns that does not appear to have been commercially released...
Joe Saye Trio with Derek Humble - c1952/3 (BBC)
Derek Humble (as), Joe Saye (p), others unknown.
One False Move/Etherial Blue Skies/Passport To Pimlico/Sharing Shearing/Yesterdays.

In 1952 and 1953 Joe recorded for Decca with a quintet that included flute player Phil Goody. From the titles the recording appears to be mood music and some titles include strings. Similar recordings were made in 1954 (Columbia) and in 1955 (Parlophone). Then Joe emigrated to the US...

In March, 1956 Joe Saye recorded an album in New York for the US EmArcy label. Titled Scotch on the rocks, the group was made up of : Herbie Mann (fl), Joe Saye (p), Mundell Lowe (g), Whitey Mitchell (b), Sonny Payne (or Osie Johnson) (d). The resulting record was not released in the UK...

On March 5th, 1956 Joe Saye recorded four tracks of a compilation album for the US EmArcy label. Titled The young ones of jazz, the group was made up of : Herbie Mann (fl), Joe Saye (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b), Sonny Payne (d). Other musicians in the compilation included Clifford Brown and Nat Adderley. The resulting record was not released in the UK...

In March, 1957 Joe Saye recorded another album in New York for the US EmArcy label. Titled A wee bit of jazz, the group was made up of : Herbie Mann (fl), Joe Saye (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson (d). The resulting record was not released in the UK...

In July, 1958 Joe Saye recorded a third and final album in New York for the US EmArcy label. Titled A double shot of Joe Saye, the group included: Spencer Sinatra (fl), Joe Saye (p), Barry Galbraith (g), John Drew (b), Jimmy Campbell (or Walter Bolden) (d). The resulting record was not released in the UK...

Joe also made a record under (his real?) name, Joel Shulman. The record is called Peninah (Pearl), it is a piano solo record recorded live in 1968 and released in 1970 on the Jamal label. Peninah is Hebrew for pearl. It's also a girl's name, and may have been the name of a woman in his life. It's also the name of the only original piece on the album. (Scott Weiner)

Comments and images in the right hand column were forwarded by Richard Hazlewood and came from "The Mercury Labels - a discography" by Ruppli and Novitsky, published in 1993...

"Saye's quintet (featuring a flute and a guitar) plays all tunes in very relaxed mood. It may be very "Scotch-flavoured" to call Jazz, anyway it's rather fine and listenable..."
Scotch on the rocks
"Joe Saye, from Scotland, is a famous pianist as his "cocktail" style playing. Actually his play is not full of thrilling moments, but the word "cocktail" here is not meant to be dull and boring style. His style is surely established, and one of the finest cocktail (or lounge) style pianist. At least I think so...
The back-up musicians, including Milt Hinton, Herbie Manne, Mundell Lowe, plays very nice, too. A very relaxed and fine album... "
A wee bit of jazz



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