Acting · 1935–2017
Al-Hajj Sayyd Abdul Al-Khabyyr (born Russell Linwood Thomas [Muslim name adopted in 1971]; 22 March 1935 - 15 February 2017), was an African-American/Canadian saxophonist (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), clarinetist, flautist (flute and piccolo) and composer. He toured internationally with Dizzy Gillespie from 1983 to 1987, appearing alongside Gillespie in the feature films A Night in Havana and A Night in Chicago. He is the only person to perform all saxophone parts consecutively in the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
On 26 June 2011, a tribute concert[3] was held during the Montreal International Jazz Festival to honor and recognize Abdul Al-Khabyyr's contributions to the Montreal jazz scene, as he was long considered the patriarch of Montreal's "second great family of Jazz".
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