Makanda Ken McIntyre

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Makanda Ken McIntyre, born Kenneth Arthur McIntyre (September 7, 1931 – June 13, 2001), was an American jazz musician, composer and educator. He played many instruments, but his main instrument was the alto saxophone. He also played flute, bass clarinet, oboe, bassoon, double bass, drums and piano.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father played mandolin. He started on the bugle at eight, then piano. As a teenager he discovered the music of Charlie Parker and began playing saxophone at nineteen, later learning clarinet and flute. He served in the U.S. Army in 1953 and played saxophone and piano in Japan.

After the Army, he studied at the Boston Conservatory, studying with Gigi Gryce, Charlie Mariano and Andy McGhee. He earned a degree in flute and composition in 1958 and a master’s degree in composition in 1959. He later earned a Doctor of Education in curriculum design from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1975.

In 1960 he recorded as a leader with Eric Dolphy. From 1961 to 1966 he taught music in public schools. He studied oboe in New York and played with Bill Dixon, Jaki Byard and the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, and spent three years performing with Cecil Taylor. In the 1970s he recorded with Nat Adderley and Beaver Harris, and in the 1980s with Craig Harris and Charlie Haden.

In 1971 he started the first African American Music program in the United States, at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, where he taught for 24 years. He also taught at Wesleyan University, Smith College, Central State University, Fordham University and The New School.

In the early 1990s he changed his name to Makanda Ken McIntyre. While performing in Zimbabwe, a friend gave him the name Makanda, meaning “many skins” in the Ndebele language and “many heads” in Shona.

Makanda Ken McIntyre died of a heart attack in New York City on June 13, 2001, at age 69. He is remembered as a bold improviser and a devoted educator.

Discography highlights include several albums as a leader, such as Stone Blues (1961), Looking Ahead (1961), Year of the Iron Sheep (1962) and Hindsight (1974), among others. He also played as a sideman and collaborator with artists like Eric Dolphy, Nat Adderley, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Charlie Haden and more.