Alum John Handy wins SF Jazz Beacon Award

Posted Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:40pm by Matt Itelson

John Handy has had his saxophone with him since the late 1940s when he played in the McClymonds High School jazz band in Oakland. In the 1950s, he spent the wee hours of the night playing local clubs before heading to SF State for classes. On Nov. 1, Handy, now 76 years old, performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival upon earning its Beacon Award.

From his galvanizing work with Charles Mingus in the late 1950s and his star-making triumph at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival, through his pioneering world music collaborations with the Indian sarod master Ali Akbar Khan and his hit 1976 R&B album “Hard Work,” Handy has blazed a brilliant trail as an improviser, composer, bandleader and educator.

“John is a living history of modern jazz,” said Randall Kline (attended ’80–’81), executive director of the San Francisco Jazz Festival, in an Oct. 30 San Jose Mercury News story.

Handy (B.A., ’63) also taught part time at SF State for many years beginning in 1968. He and his wife Del have established a scholarship in the Jazz and World Music Studies Program in his name.