Real name: Clifford Everett Shank, Jr.

Effective period / Period of releases: 1954 - 2007

Jazz musician (alto and baritone saxophone, flute, arrangements). Attended the University of North Carolina between 1944-1946 then moved to California where he studied with trumpeter/composer Shorty Rogers and played in the big bands of Charlie Barnet (1947-8) and Stan Kenton (1950-51).

He spent most of the '60s recording in L.A. studios before forming the L.A. Four in the '70s. Practiced jazz flute at times during this period, but reverted full-time to the alto saxophone in the mid-'80s.

Born May 27th, 1926, in Dayton, Ohio; died April 2nd, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona.