Ronnie Cuber

All Music Guide:

A powerful baritonist in the tradition of Pepper Adams, Ronnie Cuber has been making excellent records for over 20 years. He was in Marshall Brown's Newport Youth Band at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival and was featured with the groups of Slide Hampton (1962), Maynard Ferguson (1963-1965), and George Benson (1966-1967). After stints with Lionel Hampton (1968), Woody Herman's Orchestra (1969), and as a freelancer, he recorded a series of fine albums (both as a leader and as a sideman) for Xanadu and performed with Lee Konitz's nonet (1977-1979). In the mid-'80s, Cuber recorded for Projazz (in both straight-ahead and R&B-ish settings), in the early '90s he headed dates for Fresh Sound and SteepleChase and Cuber performed regularly with the Mingus Big Band.

Wikipedia:

Ronnie Cuber (born December 25, 1941 in New York City) is a jazz saxophonist. He has also played in Latin, pop, rock and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he has also played tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri. As a leader, Cuber is known for hard bop and Latin jazz. As a side man, he has played with numerous musicians, such as B. B. King, Paul Simon, and Eric Clapton. Furthermore, Cuber can be heard on Freeze Frame by the J. Geils Band, and one of his most spirited performances is on Dr. Lonnie Smith 1970 Blue Note album Drives.

Cuber was in Marshall Brown's Newport Youth Band in 1959, where he switched from tenor to baritone sax. His first notable work was with Slide Hampton (1962) and Maynard Ferguson (1963–1965). Then from 1966 to 1967, Cuber worked with George Benson. He was also a member of the Lee Konitz nonet from 1977 to 1979. He can be heard playing in Frank Zappa's group in the mid-1970s, including the album Zappa in New York. He has been a member of the Mingus Big Band since its inception in the early 1990s. He was an off-screen musician for the movie Across the Universe.