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A Brief History
Nick Brignola was born on July 17th, 1936 in Troy, New York. Nick was born into a musical family in which his father played the tuba and his uncle played the banjo. As a mostly self-taught musician, he developed his facility on all of his instruments using unconventional techniques, which gave his playing an unmatched fluidity. At the age of 11 he began playing the clarinet and in years to come he picked up the alto and tenor saxophones as well as the flute. At the age of 20 he dropped his alto saxophone off to get repaired and the only horn the shop had to lone him was the baritone sax. After that instance, the baritone sax became his main instrument.

While studying education at Ithaca College in New York, Brignola and some of his fellow students made a recording, which won a Down Beat Magazine award for the best college group of the year. The award afforded the group of young musicians many opportunities including the recording of an album as well as performance at various festivals, and a performance at the Café Bohemia in Greenwich Village. In the Down Beat critics pole he was labeled a “new star.” The newfound fame landed Nick Brignola with the Benny Goodman Scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. During his time at Berklee he did a recording with legendary professor and musician Herb Pomeroy and forged relationships with life long musical friends including Dick Berk. Nick did not have a long stay at Berklee though. His popularity launched him into the music scene and lead him to gig with many well established musicians. Nick was a musician that could play any style and was comfortable while doing it. Though the albums he released as a leader were mostly hard bop played by quartets, he played as a sideman in many big bands including Woody Herman and Buddy Rich. During his rise to popularity he connected with Duke Ellington’s bari player Harry Carney who took him under his wing as his protégé and urged Nick to take the baritone sax to the next level.

After a long battle with cancer, Nick Brignola passed away on February 8th, 2002. Brignola was survived by his wife Yvonne, and his three children; Jillian Haggerty, Kristen Walker and Nicholas Brignola.

Notable Highlights and Accomplishments
Though Nick was mostly known as a bandleader he performed and released albums with many of the worlds most famous and well-established musicians. He was able to record the album Baritone Madness with one of his idols, bebop heavyweight Pepper Adams. The album was recorded with Roy Haynes, Dave Holland, Pepper Adams, and Derek Smith. He released a several tribute albums with an equally stunning cast of musicians paying respect to Gerry Mulligan and Lee Morgan. He also played an integral in the three-baritone sax band, which also played tribute to Gerry Mulligan. He recorded two incredible sets at the Sweet-Baisal Lounge in New York city with Randy Brecker and Claudio Roditi and played along side fellow baritone sax player Ronnie Cuber on the album Baritone Explosion with Rein DeGraff.

Other remarkable musicians that Brignola played with through out his career include: Elvin Jones, Cecil Payne, Bobby Shew, Kenny Barron, Jack DeJohnette, Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery, Phil Woods, Chet Baker, and Clark Terry.

Discography
Though some of these albums are out of print, many can still be purchased online at Amazon.com or iTunes.


 * 1967 – This is it!


 * 1977 – Baritone Madness (featuring Pepper Adams)


 * 1978 – New York Bound


 * 1979 – L.A. Bound (received a Grammy nomination)


 * 1979 – Burn Brigade


 * 1983 – Signals… In From Somewhere


 * 1984 – Northern Lights


 * 1989 – On a Different Level


 * 1989 – Raincheck


 * 1990 – What it Takes


 * 1991 – It’s Time


 * 1992 – Live at Sweet Basil, First Set


 * 1993 – Tribute to Mulligan


 * 1994 – Like Old Times


 * 1996 – Flight of the Eagle


 * 1998 – Poincina


 * 1998 – Spring is Here


 * 1999 – All Business


 * 2000 – D.E.W Meets Nick Brignola


 * 2002 – Tour De Force


 * 2003 – Things Ain’t What They Used to Be; Last set at the sweet basil lounge