13 Facts About Gabe Baltazar

Gabe Baltazar's mother, born Chiyoko Haraga on a Hawaii sugarcane plantation, was the daughter of Japanese immigrants who came to Hawaii to work on the plantations around 1900.

Gabe started playing reed instruments while his younger brother Norman Baltazar took up the trumpet.

In 1945, Gabe Baltazar was the first recipient of a musical scholarship fund at Punahou School of Music under the auspices of the Filipino Art Lovers' Club.

Gabe Baltazar then moved to the US mainland from Hawaii to attend Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland for two years.

Gabe Baltazar questioned Parker extensively during this meeting and it would become an inspiration for his own playing to closely resemble that of the famed alto saxophonist.

Gabe Baltazar was drafted when the Korean War started and served in the United States armed forces from 1950 through 1954 at Fort Belvoir in Washington DC After that he moved back to Hawaii and played with the Royal Hawaiian Band for two years later moving to Los Angeles playing and recording with Paul Togawa in the late 1950s.

Gabe Baltazar replaced Niehaus in 1960 with Kenton after he was heard on a concert by the bandleader during a Los Angeles State College concert; Gabe Baltazar was working for the Russ Morgan orchestra at the time.

Gabe Baltazar was heard and worked for numerous players and contractors in the Los Angeles area by this time, eventually being offered the lead alto sax chair with Stan Kenton.

Gabe Baltazar is widely known as one of the last great jazz soloists of that era of Kenton orchestras, having played on the band with artists such as Marvin Stamm, Sam Donahue, Dee Barton, Carl Saunders, and Don Menza.

Gabe Baltazar returned home to Hawaii in 1969 to rejoin and then become assistant director of the Royal Hawaiian Band.

Gabe Baltazar held the position with the Royal Hawaiian Band until 1985 when he retired from civil service.

In 1973, Gabe Baltazar played sax and flute in the famous "Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii" satellite broadcast concert and had a close-up flute solo during "An American Trilogy".

Gabe Baltazar died in Hilo on June 12,2022, at the age of 92.