Saxophonist George Howard was one of the artists who helped bring contemporary jazz to a broader R&B audience during the 1980s and ’90s. With a style that mixed jazz improvisation with funk, soul and Quiet Storm grooves, Howard became a fixture on both jazz radio and urban adult contemporary stations.
Born in Philadelphia in 1956, Howard began studying music as a child and eventually gravitated toward the saxophone. His career received an important boost in the late 1970s when fellow Philadelphia sax great Grover Washington Jr., one of Howard’s musical heroes, invited him to tour.
Howard began recording as a leader with the 1982 album Asphalt Gardens, followed by Steppin’ Out. His breakthrough came with 1985’s Dancing in the Sun, which topped Billboard’s jazz album chart and established him as one of the leading voices of the emerging smooth jazz movement. He followed with a string of successful albums, including Love Will Follow, A Nice Place to Be, Reflections, Personal and Love and Understanding.
Over the course of his career, Howard also worked with dozens of other top tier soul and jazz artists while developing a loyal following of his own. His accessible combination of jazz and soul sometimes put him outside the favor of traditional jazz critics, but listeners responded strongly, making him one of contemporary jazz’s most popular performers of his generation.
Howard died in 1998 at just 41 years old, cutting short a career that was still very much active. But his music continues to resonate all these years later.
