Handy, Craig (Mitchell)
Handy, Craig (Mitchell)
Handy, Craig (Mitchell), jazz saxophonist; b. Oakland, Calif., Sept. 25, 1962. Handy has established himself as a forceful and original player based in the N.Y. area. His mother was a pianist, his father, John Handy, was a famed jazz saxophonist. He began on guitar at age nine, then progressed through piano, trombone, and finally alto sax. He won a Charlie Parker Scholarship to attend North Tex. State Univ., but ended up studying psychology rather than saxophone. He played with Galen Jeter’s Dallas Jazz Orch. from 1983-86, and then Abdullah Ibrahim (1987–90). He has worked regularly with the Mingus Big Band since 1987. From 1988-90, he led his own quintet, and from 1990-92 toured Europe as a solo act. He toured Italy in 1995 with Lovano, Bunky Green, Steve Coleman, Kenny Davis and Ralph Peterson. He has been featured in Herbie Hancock’s acoustic quartet since 1996. He scored the television program The Cosby Mysteries (1994) and appeared and played in the film Kansas City (1996).
Discography
Split Second Timing (1991); Introducing Three for All & One (1993).
—Lewis Porter