Home At Last

Don Lanphere was a tenor saxophonist from Wenatchee, Washington, known for his mastery of bebop language and a rich, full, highly original sound. He moved to New York in the late 1940s, eventually joining the bands of Woody Herman and Fats Navarro. His experience during these early years of bebop included performing alongside Bird on club dates. How he came to gain the notoriety to do so as a twenty year old musician is the interesting part of the story.

In 1948, Lanphere began dating dancer Chan Richardson, a well-connected figure on the New York scene along 52nd St. She persuaded Dial Records owner, Ross Russell, to give the young Washington state kid a shot, resulting in a session with bebop legends Fats Navarro and Max Roach. Surviving this extreme test catapulted Lanphere into the musical orbit that included club dates with Bird. Richardson would eventually go on to marry Parker, and later, alto saxophonist Phil Woods.

Lanphere battled heroin addiction, and was arrested for possession in 1951. After his release from jail, he returned to Wenatchee to work in his family's music store. He toured with Herb Pomeroy and Woody Herman in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before falling musically silent during the rest of the decade. He would go on to become a beloved performer and educator around Seattle until his passing in 2003. He experienced a late-career recording renaissance with the Seattle based Origin Records label, releasing five albums as a leader and appearing on the label's Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra releases. His 2001 offering, Home at Last, was an epiphany of sorts. The session with the Seattle trio, New Stories, introduced Lanphere's deep understanding of bebop language and focused attention to melody and tone, to a new generation of jazz fans and students alike. Pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop were a perfect match for the veteran saxophonist, performing superbly on both tenor and soprano. Lanphere also released albums on the Scottish label, Hep Records, in the 1980s and 90s.