August 3, 1961 - November 23, 1996
We lost one of my favorite saxophonists. Art Porter was in Thailand performing at a jazz festival. After the festival he went boating and the boat overturned. He and several others drowned. The CD For Art's Sake was released in his honor and is filled with songs he composed and played but had not put on any album.
I think it's sad that there isn't much information available on the net for some musicians. I did find this interesting bit of information on wikipedia.com. Make sure you read it or you'll miss the interesting part of the story:
Art Porter, Jr. was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1961. At the age of 9 Porter joined his father's band as a drummer and played with them into his teenage years. Soon after this, Porter began to be drawn to the saxophone after noticing it's melodic abilities, and began to play it during shows with his the band, "The Art Porter Trio". When Porter turned 16, he began to be barred from clubs because he was under 21. It was during this time that he was arrested and charged with working under-age in a night club serving alcoholic beverages. Then Arkansas Attorney General, and future President of the United States Bill Clinton, who was also a saxophonist, intervened to get the charges dropped and pushed for the law to be changed to allow under-age musicians to appear in adult facilities as long as their legal guardian accompanied them. This law became known as "The Art Porter Bill".
In memory of Art Porter, Jr. - your saxiness will live on in my heart.
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