Earl S. Ross, 82, popular jazz sax player and mentor

EARL S. ROSS was one of those old-time sax players who blew jazz through their horns as they walked on the bars of local night spots, the bartender hastily moving bottles and glasses out of their way and mopping up behind them.

Earl was a leading practitioner in Philadelphia of what was known for some obscure reason as "Texas tenor." Jazz fans loved it. He would be goaded by their cheers as he made his steady trek along the mahogany above their heads, popping out the rhythms in a pulsating beat.

Earl, who died of heart failure on June 21 at the age of 82, was still blowing cool as late as Father's Day 2014 when he performed with other sax players at a special event in Brooklyn and "blew the roof off," as one critic put it.

He also played over the years with a number of big bands, including those of Pancho Villa, Don Gardner and Frank Jackson. Throughout the 1970s and early '80s, he was a member of the Times Plaza Ballroom house band in North Philadelphia.

Earl later formed his own band and played regular gigs at the Top Shelf in West Philadelphia and the Candlelight Lounge in Trenton, as well as other venues in Philly, New York City and along the East Coast.

He also played for churches, memorial services and for the birthdays of fellow residents of the Yorktown Arms Apartments, at 13th and Jefferson streets, where he lived for the past nine years.

Earl was a mentor to younger musicians, urging them to grow musically and always respect the craft. He often told them, "When you show up to play, be ready to play. You can't get up on that stage and be half-stepping."

He knew more than 200 songs "and would often complain that many jazz musicians would play the same standards when there were so many great songs in the canon to choose from," his family said.

Earl was a versatile musician who could play soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. He also played the clarinet, flute and drums.

As a kid growing up in Milford, Del., he often had to put up with racial discrimination. He attended the William C. Jason Comprehensive High School in Georgetown, Del., one of three schools in Delaware that provided black students with education through 12 grades.

He joined the Air Force in 1952 and served as a cook, head of the mess hall in Fairbanks, Alaska. Even though by that time he was an accomplished musician, he wasn't allowed to play in the military band.

After his discharge, he went to work for the Milford Street Department. A musician saw him working in a segregated, low-paying job and told him he should be playing music for a living.

Taking the hint, Earl went on the road with bands playing the saxophone until he got married and had to make a living. He was employed by the Horsman Doll Factory in Trenton for a few years.

His marriage to Catherine Armstrong ended in divorce, and in 1962, he married Rebecca Ann Jones and they moved to Philadelphia. He attended the Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia, where he was taught by John Guare, who taught John Coltrane.

While getting steady gigs as a musician, Earl worked for Jonny on the Spot, placing portable toilets at festivals, including Woodstock in the Catskills in New York in August 1969.

In 1972, he got a job as a truck driver with the Philadelphia Water Department, where he remained for 15 years before retiring in 1987. He then worked for a time as a school-bus driver for the Philadelphia School District.

Earl was among the early members of the Black Musicians Union and the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, a musicians' trade union.

He is survived by a son, Earl S. Ross Jr.; two sisters, Reba R. Hollingsworth and Celia E. Jackson; and a brother, Eugene A. Ross. He was predeceased by his wife, Rebecca, and a daughter, Wanda Ross Quail.

Services: Memorial service at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Clef Club, Broad and Fitzwater streets. Musicians who played with him are urged to bring their instruments for a jam session.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, 738 S. Broad St., Philadelphia 19146.