Phil Woods, Hatless

[Rackety Sax]

It's been years since I've seen a picture of Phil Woods without that hideous captain's hat on his head. In today's Chicago Tribune there's a photo of him as guest soloist with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra over the weekend, and he finally ditched the lid! I always assumed he was covering up a bald pate that he wasn't proud of, but no, he's got a full head of hair. I guess he must just like his goofy hat.

Yamaha saxophone, no hat, what's next, electronics? No wait, he already did that back in the 70s (and the record of it, The New Phil Woods Quartet, is pretty cool by the way).

[J.Max]

He played a solo part with the UMKC Jazz Band here in KC about ten years ago, and he wore a fedora. He even made some comment that it felt funny wearing a different hat!

I still can't believe that he's playing a Yamaha though.

[paulwl]

The hat was a smart move in that it was Phil's brand differentiation. I'm sure it made him known, and memorable, to educated laypeople who otherwise couldn't name one jazz saxophonist, even if they knew Kenny G wasn't one.

The Greek Fisherman's Cap is its trade name. Surfing Google Images I found a pic I could have sworn was Phil! It turned out to be a Canadian journalist named Peter Newman. But damn, the resemblance is uncanny...

[RS]

Full head of hair? Are you sure he wasn't wearing a rug?

[Mike Ruhl]

The hat was a smart move in that it was Phil's brand differentiation. Yeah, it sure beats his old look:

1970:


Did someone mention electronics?


1971:

[sweetsax]

Yeah, it sure beats his old look:

No way! That corduroy suit is freaking cool. I think the song Killer Joe was written for Phil Woods.....

[gary]

No way! That corduroy suit is freaking cool. I think the song Killer Joe was written for Phil Woods.....
Well - truth be known, in 1970 I saw a photo of Phil Woods in the Japanese "Swing Journal" magazine with a suit that looked almost just like that, although with a more conventional material, not corduroy.

Tore the page out, took it to a tailor and had it reproduced, with a pin-stripe-ish coat and two pairs of solid coloured bell-bottom trousers (each in a different colour). I also had a corduroy "carnaby" hat (similar to Phil's).

Them were the days. Lord, lordy and some criticise the youth of today for their taste, LOL. :roll:

[J.Max]

The first time that I ever saw him was in a video package about Billy Joel...I had no idea that he was the guy that my (then) teacher told me to listen to...

[Rackety Sax]

Brand differentiation? Then Al Gallodoro must be trying to hijack his brand (from algallodoro.com)...



This isn't the Tribune photo but one I found on the Yamaha site google-imaging. That's a heck of a lot more hair than I've got and I'm 25 years younger than Phil. Of course, Phil plays a heck of a lot more sax than I'll ever play too. Come to think of it, maybe I ought to get a Greek Fisherman's Cap.

[cleger]

I didn't know that meathead played saxophone

[Rackety Sax]

The first time that I ever saw him was in a video package about Billy Joel...I had no idea that he was the guy that my (then) teacher told me to listen to...
Was he wearing the Greek lid?

[Bill Mecca]

chitownjazz, in that yamaha pic you posted, is that more or less hair than he had when you saw him live?

I've got some pics I took in the 80's but all with hat.

to hijack a bit... back in my TV days we had a sports guy who had viewers send in the most hideous neck ties they could find. he wore them on Friday nights, "the Friday Night sports tie" after he had a ton of them he took them to a tailor and had them made into a sport coat... talk about Style!!

[whaler]

At least he doesn't have the pacemaker that you attach to your neckstrap anymore!!

[Rackety Sax]

chitownjazz, in that yamaha pic you posted, is that more or less hair than he had when you saw him live?

I just saw his pic in the Chicago Tribune, I didn't make the concert. The pic was a profile view but I'd say it looks like about the same amount of hair.