10 Facts About Cecil Payne

Cecil Payne was an American jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, New York.

Cecil Payne played with other prominent jazz musicians, in particular Dizzy Gillespie and Randy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader.

Cecil Payne took lessons from a local alto sax player, Pete Brown, and studied at Boys High School, Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Cecil Payne began his professional recording career with JJ Johnson on the Savoy label in 1946.

Cecil Payne then started freelance work in New York City and frequently performed during this period with Randy Weston, whom Payne worked with until 1960.

Cecil Payne was still recording regularly for Delmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his 70s, and indeed on into the new millennium.

Cecil Payne was a cousin of trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, with whom he recorded with briefly.

Cecil Payne once said that his parents urged him to consider dentistry as a career.

Cecil Payne countered their suggestion by pointing out that no one would ever entrust his or her teeth to a "Dr Payne".

Cecil Payne died in Stratford, New Jersey, from prostate cancer at the age of 84.