Lee gave me my biggest break when he asked me to guest with the great Fats Domino band. I was in the support band on tour in Europe and I used to sit by the side of the stage watching Lee and Herb Hardesty. One day he asked me up on stage to do a duet solo with him, then a few years later Fats asked me to join the band on a European tour. 6 piece horn section – no rehearsal. The first night on stage Fred Kemp, who was standing next to me in the section, played my part towards me. The next night I was on my own and he yelled at me if I got it wrong! The biggest thrill was taking the extended”duet” solo on Jambalaya, in which Lee and I “traded” 8 bar phrases. This was an incredible saxophone leson, Lee would repeat what I played and embellish it, I had to try to do the same with his phrases. I remember Lee was always very friendly and encouraging to any young sax players, always finding time to talk to them. It was fascinating listening to stories about recording with Little Richard, or his early gigs in the south when he played for strip shows – he spoke about a gauze curtain between the band and the strippers so that the white customers could not see that there was black band on stage with white naked women. In the studio he was terrific, always blew a great solo every take. One time the engineer lost a beautiful first take solo. Everyone was yelling at him except Lee who calmly said, “no problem I’ll just blow another one…” During the time I knew him he used a Selmer D mouthpiece (the stock one that Selmer used to provide with the horn, not the more expensive Soloist model) – however he sounded the same on whatever he used. The guys in the band used to say he had an amplifier inside him, his sound was so big. And entirely unique. Listen to those solos on the early Little Richard hits, but if possible try to find some of his earlier recordings with Paul Gayten – shades of Ben Webster! Later stuff with Dr John (Gumbo). You will hear how it’s possible to say an awful lot with very few notes. He had a knack of making simple melodic phrases right on the beat with no syncopation sound as funky as anything. His solo on “Walking With Mr Lee” is a perfect example of how to make a solo just keep on building in intensity. The name “Walking with Mr Lee” comes from Lee’s habit of walking (more of a stomp as excitement builds) on the spot while playing. Perhaps this has some connection to his amazing ability to state the beat, his phrasing was so in the pocket he was almost part of the drum kit. When he did some gigs and recording with my band … Continue reading Lee Allen