BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

 

A well-respected saxophonist for decades who played a small but significant role in the Chess-based record companies of the late 1940’s and 1950’s, primarily as a sessionist and arranger but occasionally getting lead credit.

Oett Mallard was born in 1915, the son of a mixed-race couple which caused them to have to move from Kentucky to Illinois in order to get married. After their son’s arrival they headed to Chicago where the youngster took up saxophone in high school and was soon playing on the radio. He was classmates with Nat Cole and after graduating they toured the country for more than two years before getting stranded in California when they weren’t paid. Cole stayed and built his legend, Mallard worked his way back home and then was able to convey that into tours with everybody from Fats Waller to The Ink Spots before landing a coveted spot with Duke Ellington’s band before World War Two interrupted his career.

Upon his discharge from the Navy he joined drummer Jump Jackson’s band who recorded for Specialty Records in 1946 and the following year for the newly formed Chicago label Aristocrat. During this time he also provided sax work for various blues acts on sessions for major labels Columbia, RCA and Mercury (behind Dinah Washington), as well as rock gigs for Aristocrat behind Andrew Tibbs and occasionally getting the chance for his own jazz instrumentals on the label, one of which charted briefly in Los Angeles.

As the alto sax was not the primary horn for rock ‘n’ roll his contributions were minimal on things such as the first records by LaVern Baker (on RCA), though he frequently doubled as the arranger for a session. When Tibbs was having drug problems the Chess Brothers, who’d taken over Aristocrat and renamed it after themselves, put out the last records they cut on him under Mallard’s name.

He still was more of a utility player than a vital part of their starting lineup and a session he cut under his own name in January 1951 actually featured Osie Johnson singing on three of the four sides which were shelved for more than a year when one of them, along with an instrumental he’d laid down that same day, were pulled to serve as the first release on the Chess’s new subsidiary label Checker Records in 1952. He got a follow-up that summer and a later rocking instrumental on Mercury, but he was still primarily backing others such as vocalist Mitzi Mars and The Coronets on Checker and Chess, and Guitar Slim on Specialty, showing his increased versatility on record as he had made the full-time switch to tenor by now, even dropping to baritone for a Moonglows session.

His recording career slowed considerably in the latter half of the 1950’s and by the early 1960’s he was back where he began in the studio, cutting records with Jump Jackson behind aging blues artists. His playing career however continued in clubs around Chicago before becoming a union official which ended his playing duties, aside from sitting in occasionally without pay. Mallard died in 1986 at the age of 70, his recording output scattered across multiple labels in multiple genres including rock ‘n’ roll and with a few solid instrumentals of his own in that field to his credit.
 
 
SAX MALLARD DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):

HEY PRETTY MAMA
(November 1947; Aristocrat 402)
As sideman to… Jump Jackson.

I FEEL LIKE CRYING
(Aristocrat 1103; May, 1948)
As sideman, arranger for… Andrew Tibbs.

SAME OLD STORY
(Aristocrat 1104; October, 1948)
As sideman, arranger for… Andrew Tibbs.

GOING DOWN FAST
(Aristocrat 1104; October, 1948)
As sideman, arranger for… Andrew Tibbs.

THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER
(Aristocrat 1105; December, 1948)
As sideman, arranger for… Andrew Tibbs.

HE’s GOT HER AND GONE
(Aristocrat 1106; December, 1948)
As sideman, arranger for… Andrew Tibbs.

I WONDER BABY
(RCA 22-0016; March, 1949)
As sideman behind… Eddie “Sugarman” Penigar and LaVern Baker.

EASY BABY
(RCA 22-0036; May, 1949)
As sideman behind… Eddie “Sugarman” Penigar and LaVern Baker.

BIG TIME BABY
(Aristocrat 3002; October, 1949)
As songwriter for… The Dozier Boys.

YOU CAN’T WIN
(Chess 1430; August, 1950)
Getting lead artist credit due to Andrew Tibbs’ pending detox for narcotics, Mallard’s role is secondary to a still very good Tibbs performance, providing mostly understated support in an uncluttered arrangement. (7)

ACHING HEART
(Chess 1430; August, 1950)
Mallard turns in his first appearance on tenor sax sounding okay behind Andrew Tibbs’ vocal, but wandering into supper club territory on the extended solo on a what is a much busier backing track than the more effective top half. (4)

SLOW CABOOSE
(Checker 750; March, 1952)
The first chance for Mallard to really shine at the center of this atmospheric instrumental where he shows off great tone with shimmering reverb which gives this an edgy vibe that is broken only by the out of place piano interlude. (7)

TEEN TOWN STRUT!
(Checker 755; May, 1952)
A more laid back instrumental featuring Mallard exuding a cool atmospheric vibe with some help from another horn along with a guitar and piano, not very aggressive by nature but with a hint of menace in some of his lines and enough rhythm to envision someone strutting along to it. (5)

THE BUNNY HOP
(Mercury 70002; November, 1952)
Though its origins as a pop-based dance on the West Coast – with a stupid unrelated song by Ray Anthony to go with it – inspired this, Mallard takes it far away from that and rocks up a storm here, obliterating the memory of its insipid beginnings. (7)