Paul Horn obit

Paul Horn: A harmonious legacy

Paul Horn found serenity in Victoria and added to it with his gentle spirit and incredible talent.

He was not on the list.

Paul Horn found serenity in Victoria and added to it with his gentle spirit and incredible talent. The jazz great and pioneer of New Age music could have lived anywhere, but he chose Vancouver Island, “a little spot of paradise on this planet,” as he put it.

The New York-born Horn, a saxophonist and flutist, died Sunday at the age of 84 after a career that spanned more than 60 years and in which he performed with the likes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich and even the Beach Boys.

In the mid-1960s, he studied transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India, where he became friends with his fellow students, the Beatles. His experiences there changed the direction of his life and his music. In 1968, he recorded unaccompanied flute music in the Taj Mahal.

Inside the Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the most influential albums in establishing what’s now known as New Age music. He went on to record in other important spiritual places, including the Great Pyramid, cathedrals and the canyons of the American Southwest.

He moved with his family to Victoria in 1970, and although he continued to travel and perform widely, this region remained his home.

Horn pushed musical boundaries — he identified with orcas and incorporated their songs into some of his music — and in doing so, left a legacy of harmony that encompasses more than music.

 

Discography

As leader

House of Horn (Dot, 1957)

Plenty of Horn (Dot, 1958)

Impressions! (World Pacific, 1959)

Something Blue (HiFi Jazz, 1960)

The Sound of Paul Horn (Columbia, 1961)

Profile of a Jazz Musician (Columbia, 1962)

Impressions of Cleopatra (Columbia, 1963)

Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts (RCA Victor, 1964) written, arranged and conducted by Lalo Schifrin

Cycle (RCA Victor, 1965)

Here's That Rainy Day (RCA Victor, 1966)

Monday, Monday (RCA Victor, 1966) arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson

Paul Horn In India (1967, World Pacific), composed and adapted by Paul Horn, Ravi Shankar and Allaudin Kahn

Paul Horn In Kashmir (1967, World Pacific)

Inside (1969, Epic) (also known later as Inside the Taj Mahal)

Paul Horn and the Concert Ensemble (1970, Ovation Records)

Inside II, (1972, Epic)

Visions (1974, Epic)

Altura Do Sol (High Sun)/The Altitude of the Sun (1975, Epic), composed and accompanied by Egberto Gismonti

Special Edition (1975, Mushroom Records)

Nexus (1975, Epic)

Inside the Great Pyramid (1976)

Dream Machine (1978, Mushroom Records), composed, arranged and conducted by Lalo Schifrin

Riviera Concert (1980)

China (1981, Golden Flute Records), with David M.Y. Liang, cheng, sheng and erh-hu

Inside the Cathedral (1983)

Jupiter 8 (1983, Golden Flute Records), with Ralph Dyck, synthesizer

Paul Horn in Concert (1984, Golden Flute Music), with David Friesen, Oregon bass, and Ralph Hooper, organ

Connections (1984, Gramavision), with Steven Halpern

Traveler (1985)

Sketches: A Collection, selections from the Golden Flute series (1986) (Lost Lake Arts/Windham Hill)

The Peace Album (1988) – music for Christmas

Brazilian Images (1989)

Inside the Taj Mahal, Volume 2 (1989)

Nomad (1990)

Africa (1994)

Music (1997)

Inside Canyon de Chelly (1997) – with R. Carlos Nakai

Inside Monument Valley (1999) – with Nakai

Tibet: Journey to the Roof of the World (2000)

Imprompture (2001)

Journey Inside Tibet (2001)

As sideman

With Mongo Santamaria

 

Mongo (Fantasy, 1959)

With Cal Tjader

 

In a Latin Bag (Verve, 1961)

Latino! (Fantasy 1962; re-released 1992)

With Lorez Alexandria

 

More of the Great Lorez Alexandria (Impulse!, 1964)

With Nat King Cole

 

L-O-V-E (Capitol, 1965)

With Buddy Collette

 

Buddy Collette's Swinging Shepherds (EmArcy, 1958)

At the Cinema! (Mercury, 1959)

With Duke Ellington

 

Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G. (Columbia, 1960)

With Chico Hamilton

 

Chico Hamilton Quintet (Pacific Jazz, 1957)

Sweet Smell of Success (Decca, 1957)

South Pacific in Hi-Fi (World Pacific, 1958)

Ellington Suite (World Pacific, 1959)

The Three Faces of Chico (Warner Bros., 1959)

With Fred Katz

 

Zen: The Music of Fred Katz (Pacific Jazz, 1957)

Soul° Cello (Decca, 1958)

Folk Songs for Far Out Folk (Warner Bros., 1958)

With Shelly Manne

 

My Fair Lady with the Un-original Cast (Capitol, 1964)

With Ken Nordine

 

Word Jazz (Dot, 1957)

Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958)

With Shorty Rogers

 

Chances Are It Swings (RCA Victor, 1958)

An Invisible Orchard (RCA Victor, 1961 [1997])

The Fourth Dimension in Sound (Warner Bros., 1961)

Bossa Nova (Reprise, 1962)

Jazz Waltz (Reprise, 1962)

With Pete Rugolo

 

The Music from Richard Diamond (EmArcy, 1959)

Behind Brigitte Bardot (Warner Bros., 1960)

With Lalo Schifrin

 

Gone with the Wave (Colpix, 1964)

With George Shearing

 

Out of the Woods (Capitol, 1965 [1963])

With The Beach Boys

 

Pet Sounds (Capitol, 1966)

With Joni Mitchell

 

Ladies of the Canyon (Reprise, 1970)

Filmography

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) (with the Chico Hamilton Quintet)

A Bucket of Blood (1959) (saxophone solo intro)

The Rat Race (1960) (musician)

The New Three Stooges (1965) (main title and end credits theme)