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Sam Furnace (1954 – January 26 2004 Brooklyn) was an American jazz and blues saxophoneist (alto, tenor and baritone saxophone), flutist, arranger and composer.

Career
Sam Furnace played early in his career in Soul bands and in the backing bands of The Temptations and Four Tops. In the mid-1970s he was a member of Billy Mitchells "Henry Street Settlement Jazz Band"; he also worked with Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Chico O'Farrill, Mongo Santamaría ( Soy Yo , 1987) and was a long-time member of Fred Ho s "Afro-Asian Music Ensemble", the "Brooklyn Saxophone Quartet" and the various band projects of Julius Hemphill in the 1980s and 90s. . The alto used Furnace as tenor and baritone saxophonist in his big band and sextet. Furnace has appeared on Hemphill's sextet albums on Black Saint such as "Fat Man and the Hard Blues" (1991) and "Five Chord Stud" (1993). After Hemphill's death in 1995, he continued to work with his sextet.

In 1990 he played in Craig Harris ’Big Band (" 4 Play ") and in the" New York Composers Orchestra ". In the 2000s he played in Elliott Sharp s formation "Terraplane" (Blues for Next, 2000), in Bill Cole s "Untempered Ensemble", with the "Jazz Passengers '' and in the big band of Arturo O'Farrill.

Furnace was also active as a blues musician; he worked as an accompanist for the blues guitarist Johnny Copeland and was involved in the James Brown project (1991) of the formation Cold Sweat. One of his last sessions was the blues album `` Do the Don'T '' by Elliott Sharps Terrplanes. Sam Furnace did not conduct any recording sessions under his own name; half of the tracks on the  Brooklyn Saxophone Quartet  album  Far Side of Here  include his last studio session.

Death
Furnace died of cancer in 2004.

Marty Ehrlich dedicated the 2005 composition "Keeper of the Flame" ("In Memory Of Sam Furnace") on the album, News on the Rail. (audio via YouTube)
 * Marty Ehrlich (alto sax, clarinet)
 * Greg Cohen (double bass)
 * Allison Miller (drums)

Selected discography

 * Brooklyn Saxophone Quartet: `` Far Side of Here '' (OmniTone, 2004)
 * Julius Hemphill: `` At Dr King's Table '' (New World, 1995)
 * Fred Ho: "The Underground Railroad to My Heart" (Soul Note, 1990–93)
 * Fred Ho:  Once Upon a Time in Chinese America ...  (Inova, 1999)
 * "Should the Blues Be Suspended"
 * Musicians: Mongo Santamaría (congas); Bobby Sanabria (drums); Sal Santamaria (percussion); E.J. Allen (trumpet); Sam Furnace (alto sax); Tony Hinson (tenor sax); Bob Quaranta (piano); Eddie Resto (bass)
 * (audio via YouTube)

Literature

 * Richard Cook, Brian Morton: " The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings." 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-141-02327-9.



Weblinks

 * Obituary by Todd S. Jenkins in jazzhouse.org (English)
 * obituary of the Jazzzeitung
 * Allmusic album ID mn0000286533; Sam Furnace.
 * Discogs Artist ID 376330; Sam Furnace
 * Discogs Artist ID 376330; Sam Furnace


 * Category:1954 births
 * Category:2004 deaths
 * Category:Free jazz saxophonists
 * Category:Blues saxophonists