Arnett Cobb

tenor saxophone · 1918–1989 · Houston

Born in Houston, Arnett Cobb studied piano and violin before turning to the tenor saxophone in high school, then made his name with his powerful playing in Lionel Hampton's orchestra in the 1940s. Despite a serious illness and a car accident that forced him to walk with crutches, he kept playing into the 1980s and wrote the standard "Smooth Sailing".

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Styles

• Swing, big bands
• Jump blues, R&B
• Hard bop

Landmark tracks

• Party Time (1959)
• The Slow Poke (1959)
• Blues in the Closet (1959)
• Lonesome Road (1959)

Cited in 1 radio episode

• Mar 13, 2026: The Three Swingin Tenors au Duc des Lombards (Jazzlive, TSF Jazz, in French)

Sources

• Source

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