Jabo Ward

Tenor and baritone saxophone, flute.

Ward grew up in Kansas City, where he heard Count Basie, and moved to Seattle in 1937. A late starter, Ward worked in a southwest Washington lumber mill for three years then joined the Merchant Marine and started taking lessons on the side from Frank Waldron. Ward was hired in 1943 by Al Pierre and played baritone saxophone in Pierre’s “litttle big band” throughout the ’40s, including the band’s last tour, to Alaska. Ward also played at all the other Jackson Street venues, including Basin Street; the Far East Veterans Club, where he worked from 1951-53 with vocalist Dee Dee Hackett; the New Chinatown, from 1954-56; and the black musicians’ union “clubhouse,” the Blue Note. Ward had a second heyday as a more modern saxophonist (and flutist) under the influence of John Coltrane when he co-led a group with saxophonist and flutist Bob Winn at Pete’s Poop Deck. Ward made music a sideline in later life, but remained a fixture on the Seattle jazz scene through the ’80s and ’90s, when he played with the Inner City Jazz Quartet.

Jackson Street After Hours (print). https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20040415&slug=ward155 https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/community-remembers-seattle-jazz-lion-chuck-metcalf/