Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.

Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He studied music with Lennie Tristano, who influenced him greatly, at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Juilliard School. His friend, Joe Lopes, coached him on clarinet as there was no saxophone major at Juilliard at the time. Although he did not copy Charlie "Bird" Parker, he was known as the New Bird, a label which was also attached to other alto players such as Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley at one time or another in their careers.

After moving to France in 1968, Woods led the European Rhythm Machine, a group which tended toward avant-garde jazz. He returned to the United States in 1972 and, after an unsuccessful attempt to establish an electronic group, he formed a quintet which was still performing, with some changes of personnel, in 2004. As his theme, Woods used a piece titled "How's Your Mama?"

In 1979, Woods made the recording More Live at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Perhaps his best known recorded work as a sideman is a pop piece, his alto sax solo on Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". He also played the alto sax solo on Steely Dan's "Doctor Wu" from their 1975 album Katy Lied, as well as Paul Simon's "Have a Good Time" from the 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years.

Although Woods was primarily a saxophonist, he was also a clarinet player and solos can be found scattered through his recordings. One particular example is his clarinet solo on "Misirlou" on the album Into The Woods (see discography below).

Woods, along with Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert, founded the organization Celebration of the Arts (COTA) in 1978 late one night in the bar at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap. The organization would eventually become the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts. Their initial goal was to help foster an appreciation of jazz and its relationship to other artistic disciplines. Each year, the organization hosts the Celebration of the Arts Festival in the town of Delaware Water Gap in September.

Phil Woods – A Life in E Flat: Portrait of a Jazz Legend is a documentary film released in 2005 by Jazzed Media. Directed by Rich Lerner, and produced by Graham Carter, the film offers an intimate portrait of Woods during a recording session of the Jazzed Media album This is How I Feel About Quincy.

Phil Woods married Chan Parker, the widow of Charlie Parker, in 1955 and was stepfather to Chan's daughter Kim. On September 4, 2015, Woods performed a tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, and announced at the end of the show that he would be retiring. Woods died September 29, 2015, at the age of 83.

Awards

In 2007, Phil received a "Jazz Master" award from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Woods' recordings have been nominated for seven Grammy awards and have won four.

• 1975 Images: "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance".
• 1977 Live from the Show Boat: "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Individual or Group".
• 1982 More Live: "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Individual or Group".
• 1983 At the Vanguard: "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Individual or Group".

He also performed on the 2006 Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project Album, Simpático, which won Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year in 2007.

Discography

• 1954: Pot Pie (Prestige)
• 1955: Woodlore (Prestige)
• 1956: Pairing Off (Prestige)
• 1956: The Young Bloods (Prestige) – with Donald Byrd
• 1957: Four Altos (Prestige) – with Gene Quill, Hal Stein, Sahib Shihab
• 1957 Phil and Quill with Prestige – with Gene Quill
• 1957: Sugan (Status)
• 1961: Rights of Swing (Candid)
• 1967: Greek Cooking (Impulse!)
• 1969: Round Trip (Verve)
• 1971: Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (Embryo Records)
• 1974: Musique du Bois (Muse Records)
• 1975: Images (RCA Victor) with Michel Legrand
• 1976: The New Phil Woods Album
• 1976: Altology (Prestige)
• 1977: Live from the Show Boat
• 1977: Summer Afternoon Jazz (Hindsight Records)
• 1978: 'Song for Sisyphus' (Gryphon Records)
• 1979: Phil Woods Quartet Live (Clean Cuts)
• 1979: Phil Woods – I Remember (Gryphon Records) US
• 1980: Phil Woods/Lew Tabackin (Evidence)
• 1982: Live from New York (Palo Alto Records)
• 1982: More Live
• 1983: At the Vanguard
• 1984: Integrity (Red)
• 1984: Heaven (Evidence)
• 1986: Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet (Timeless) – with Dizzy Gillespie
• 1987: Bop Stew; Bouquet (Concord)
• 1988: Evolution; Here's To My Lady (Concord)
• 1988: Embracable You (Philology)
• 1989: Flash (Concord)
• 1989: Here's to My Lady (Chesky)
• 1990: All Bird Children; Real Life (Concord)
• 1990: Phil's Mood (Philology)
• 1990: My Man Benny, My Man Phil, with Benny Carter (Musicmasters)
• 1991: Flowers For Hodges (Concord)
• 1991: Full House (Milestone)
• 1991: Real Life, The Little Big Band (Chesky)
• 1994: Just Friends; Our Monk (Philology)
• 1995: Plays The Music Of Jim McNeely (TCB)
• 1996: Mile High Jazz Live In Denver (Concord)
• 1996: Astor and Elis (Chesky)
• 1996: The Complete Concert (JMS) with Gordon Beck
• 1996: Into The Woods (Concord CCD-4699)
• 1997: Celebration! (Concord)
• 1998: The Rev And I (Blue Note Records)
• 2006: Pass the Bebop (Cowbell Music) with Benjamin Koppel and Alex Riel Trio
• 2011: Man With The Hat (Pazz) with Grace Kelly (co-leader), with Monty Alexander, Evan Gregor, Bill Goodwin, and Jordan Perlson

With Manny Albam

• Jazz Goes to the Movies (Impulse!, 1962)
• The Soul of the City (Solid State, 1966)

With Kenny Burrell

• A Generation Ago Today (Verve, 1967)

With Gary Burton

• Who is Gary Burton? (RCA, 1962)
• The Groovy Sound of Music (RCA, 1963)

With Ron Carter

• Anything Goes (Kudu, 1975)

With Eddie Costa

• Eddie Costa Quintet (Interlude, 1957)

With Lou Donaldson

• Rough House Blues (1964)

With Bill Evans

• Symbiosis (1974)

With Gil Evans

• The Individualism of Gil Evans (1964)

With Art Farmer

• Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra (Mercury, 1962)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• World Statesman (Norgran, 1956)
• Dizzy in Greece (Verve, 1957)
• The New Continent (Limelight, 1962)
• Rhythmstick (CTI, 1990)

With Stephane Grappelli

• Classic Sessions: Stephane Grappelli (1987)

With Kenyon Hopkins

• The Hustler (soundtrack) (Kapp, 1961)

With Milt Jackson

• Ray Brown / Milt Jackson with Ray Brown (Verve, 1965)

With Billy Joel

• Just The Way You Are on album The Stranger (CBS, 1977)
• New York State of Mind second studio version for compilation Greatest Hits (1985) and subsequent compilations and re-releases of album Turnstiles (replacing original saxophone by Richie Cannata)

With Quincy Jones

• The Quintessence (1961)

With John Lewis

• Essence (Atlantic, 1962)

With Mundell Lowe

• Satan in High Heels (soundtrack) (Charlie Parker, 1961)

With Brian Lynch (Musician)

• Simpático (The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project) (ArtistShare AS 0057, 2006)
• Bolero Nights for Billie Holiday - (Venus VCD 1029, 2008)

With Herbie Mann

• Yardbird Suite (Savoy, 1957)

With Nellie McKay

• Obligatory Villagers (2007)

With the Modern Jazz Quartet

• Jazz Dialogue (Atlantic, 1965)
• MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration (Atlantic, 1994)

With Thelonious Monk

• The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (1959)
• Big Band and Quartet in Concert (Columbia, 1963)

With Oliver Nelson

• Full Nelson (Verve, 1963)
• More Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!, 1964)
• Fantabulous (Argo, 1964)
• Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz (Verve, 1966)
• Leonard Feather Presents the Sound of Feeling and the Sound of Oliver Nelson (Verve, 1966)
• Oliver Nelson Plays Michelle (Impulse!, 1966)
• Happenings with Hank Jones (Impulse!, 1966)
• The Spirit of '67 with Pee Wee Russell (Impulse!, 1967)
• The Kennedy Dream (Impulse!, 1967)
• Jazzhattan Suite (Verve, 1968)

With Pony Poindexter

• Pony's Express (Epic, 1962)

With Jimmy Raney

• Jimmy Raney Quintet (Prestige, 1954)

With Lalo Schifrin

• Samba Para Dos with Bob Brookmeyer (Verve, 1963)
• Once a Thief and Other Themes (Verve, 1965)

With Shirley Scott

• Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands (Impulse!, 1966)

With Jimmy Smith

• Monster (Verve, 1965)

With Chris Swansen

• Crazy Horse (Atlas, 1979)

With Billy Taylor

• Kwamina (Mercury, 1961)

With Clark Terry

• The Happy Horns of Clark Terry (Impulse!, 1964)