Jazz Saxophone Star Dies
The Grammy-winning jazz saxophone player Grover Washington Jr. died Friday night at age 56, after suffering an apparent heart attack.
It happened shortly after Washington taped a performance for the CBS Saturday Early Show.
Whether playing the national anthem at NBA games in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia, or wowing crowds at packed venues around the country, Grover Washington Jr. was a jazzman for our time.
Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1943, he began playing the sax when he was 10 years old, and entered the national spotlight in 1971 with a soulful rendering of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues."
Ten years later, Washington won a double Grammy, along with Bo Withers, for one of the year's biggest hits, "Just The Two Of Us." It was followed by a series of gold and platinum albums in the '80s and '90s as Washington honed an expressive, accessible style all his own.
Washington also played his sax at President Clinton's 50th birthday celebration at Radio City Music Hall in 1996. He had the privilege of performing at the White House in 1993, along Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock, for a concert celebrating jazz.
We here at CBS were stunned and saddened by this sudden turn of events, and we want to express our deepest sympathy to Grover Washington's wife and his children, his family and friends.
We were uncertain whether to broadcast the performance taped Friday. But Grover Washington was a musician and his friends and colleagues tell us they think he would want to be heard.
Grover Washington Jr. died after doing something he loved -- playing music.