Willis 'Gator Tail' Jackson

Saxophonist Willis "Gator Tail" (also known as Gator) Jackson was born in Miami, Florida, in 1932. In 1948, after graduating from Florida A&M University, he moved to New York City and soon joined the Cootie Williams band. He recorded an album with the band a year later, During the session Jackson, the featured tenor sax player, cut the track "Gator Tail, Parts One and Two". It became a hit, helping him launch his career and, incidentally, giving him his nickname. He became known for his hot, fast-paced sax solos, which helped to popularize R&B in the era after World War II. In the early 1950s he married singer Ruth Brown and played sax on many of her records. He also signed a contract with Atlantic Records, which was also Brown's label. When R&B began to fade in popularity in the 1960s, Jackson switched to Prestige Records and began a new phase of his career, moving into the soul jazz genre. He stayed with Prestige until 1971, recording approximately 25 albums for the company. He continued to record and tour into the 1970s and early 1980s, and teamed with Richard 'Groove' Holmes to play various nightclubs in the New York and New Jersey area. He died in 1987.