For almost the entirety of a long and distinguished career, the alto saxophonist and flautist Ray Warleigh, who has died aged 76, was in effect hidden in plain sight. Over the course of half a century he played with Scott Walker, Nick Drake, Dusty Springfield, John Mayall, Stevie Wonder, Dizzy Gillespie, Kiri Te Kanawa and countless other important figures. His technical command, beautiful tone and liquid phrasing on both instruments made him the first choice of top arrangers, producers and musical directors. But it was at small, barely publicised gigs in London jazz clubs that Warleigh revealed his most profound talent.
One night more than 30 years ago, in front of a handful of listeners in a pub just off Oxford Circus, Warleigh was playing Straight No Chaser, a typically intricate Thelonious Monk tune, with a quartet including the drummer John Stevens. In the space of two choruses, he delivered a saxophone improvisation that so beautifully deconstructed and reassembled Monk’s phrases as to provide a lesson in the art of thematic improvisation, finding the ideal balance of spontaneity, imagination and intellect. It vanished, like so much great jazz, into the night air, but not before leaving an indelible mark on at least one listener.
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