Artist Profile:
Sam Most
One of the first jazz flute role models, Sam Most — born in 1930 — made his name in the 1950s and early 1960s with the bands of, among others, Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson and Teddy Wilson. Most of the intervening years have been spent in the Hollywood studios or with pick-up bands in small Los Angeles nightclubs.
>One of the first great jazz flutists, a cool-toned tenor, and a fine (if infrequent) clarinetist, Sam Most is the younger brother of clarinetist Abe Most. He picked up early experience playing with the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey (1948), Boyd Raeburn, and Don Redman. By the time he led his first session (1953), Most was a brilliant flutist (among the first to sing through his flute) and he briefly had the jazz field to himself. Most recorded fine sessions for Prestige, Debut (reissued on Xanadu), Vanguard, and Bethlehem during 1953-1958, doubling on
clarinet. He also worked in different settings with Chris Connor, Paul Quinichette, and Teddy Wilson. After playing with Buddy Rich’s Orchestra (1959-1961), he moved to Los Angeles and became a studio musician. Sam Most worked with Red Norvo and Louie Bellson, gained some new prominence with his Xanadu recordings of 1976-1979, and became a local fixture in Los Angeles, sometimes playing in clubs with his brother.
