Andrew Woolfolk, Earth, Wind, and Fire's Classic-Era Saxophonist, Dead at 71
Andrew Woolfolk, the long-term saxophonist for Earth, Wind, and Fire and dependable employed weapon for a huge number of different craftsmen, passed on Sunday, April 24. He was 71.
Earth, Wind, and Fire singer Phililp Bailey affirmed Woolfolk's passing on Instagram. Bailey noticed that Woolfolk had been "sick [for] north of a 6 years," and in a different proclamation imparted to Rolling Stone, he added that Woolfolk had been fighting the "impacts of a crippling stroke."
"I met him in secondary school, and we immediately became companions and bandmates," Bailey composed, adding, "He has Transitioned on to the eternity, from this Land of the perishing to the Land of the Living. Extraordinary recollections. Extraordinary ability. Entertaining. Cutthroat. Intelligent. Furthermore, continuously styling. Booski… I'll see you on the opposite side, old buddy."
Woolfolk was conceived Oct. 11, 1950 in Texas, however was brought up in Colorado, where he later met Bailey. It was Bailey who tapped Woolfolk to join Earth, Wind, and Fire in 1973. At that point, the gathering had proactively had some minor achievement, delivering several collections and playing out the soundtrack for Melvin Van Peebles' Blaxploitation exemplary Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. Following the flight of saxophonist/flute player Ronnie Laws, Bailey proposed Earth, Wind, and Fire tap his old secondary school companion, Woolfolk, as his substitution.
At that point, Woolfolk was living in New York City, concentrating on saxophone with jazz incredible Joe Henderson. He was likewise thinking about a vocation in financial when Bailey's deal came in, yet he at last picked music.
Woolfolk's most memorable record with Earth, Wind, and Fire was 1973's Head to the Sky, which turned into their most memorable collection to go platinum. The record started off a ridiculously fruitful stretch for the gathering, which went on with 1974's Open Your Eyes — a Rolling Stone audit explicitly applauded Woolfolk's "familiar soprano sax" — and arrived at a top with 1975's That's the Way of the World. On the strength of the crush single, "Sparkling Star" — which hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 — That's the Way of the World became Earth, Wind, and Fire's most memorable Number One collection on the Billboard 200 collections outline too (it was subsequently confirmed triple platinum).
"As a sax player, Andrew was offbeat," Bailey said in his proclamation. "He was continuously diagramming his own way, even considering the extraordinary legends that preceded us. Pay attention to his solo on 'Uncontrollable Movements' from Open Our Eyes, or on 'Africano' from our collection That's the Way of the World. He was gallant like that, and carried on with his life the equivalent."
Earth, Wind, and Fire kept an amazing degree of achievement all through the Seventies, however their notoriety dunked a piece in the mid Eighties. Following the arrival of 1983's Electric Universe, Earth, Wind and Fire, went on break.
In the last part of the Seventies, Woolfolk started playing on other specialists' collections, and he kept on doing as such during Earth, Wind, and Fire's break. From the get-go, he played with craftsmen like Deniece Williams and Valerie Carter, and kept on working with Bailey, playing on two of his gospel solo records, 1984's The Wonders of His, and 1986's Triumph (the last option won a Grammy for Best Male Gospel Performance).
Woolfolk was close by when Earth, Wind, and Fire rejoined in 1987, and he kept on playing with the gathering until authoritatively leaving in 1993. After his takeoff, Woolfolk continued playing, connecting up with Phil Collins to perform on his 1996 collection, Dance Into the Light; he likewise joined Collins out and about a piece too, ultimately showing up on a live recording of Collins at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1996, which was delivered in 2004. In 2000, Woolfolk was enlisted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an individual from Earth, Wind, and Fire.
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