A teenage Arnett Cobb used to wander around the Fifth Ward looking for some wide-open space to play his saxophone. This was during the 1930s, when the neighborhood wasn’t quite as densely populated.

“He’d just find some spot where he wouldn’t bother anybody, and he’d blow,” says Lizette Cobb, daughter of Houston’s legendary saxophonist.

Lizette mentions the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery and how he developed his distinctive sound by having to play quietly in the attic of his home. Cobb’s rehearsal space allowed him to set loose a growling bear of a tone on his instrument, with which he’d come to define the Texas Tenor style. Read More

Source: Houston Chronicle