Fattburger's Hollis Gentry Dies

Saxophonist Hollis Gentry, who helped form the San Diego-based Smooth Jazz group Fattburger more than 20 years ago, has died at age 51. It was two years ago that Gentry was involved in a serious automobile accident in San Diego. He had been through rehabilitation, but entered a hospice a few weeks ago after his health began to worsen. He died on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 at his home.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in music composition and a master’s in music technology, Gentry and childhood friend and keyboardist Carl Evans founded Fattburger, which garnered a huge local following in San Diego and eventually became well-known in the U.S. and overseas, especially in Japan. In addition, Gentry was a teacher who counted Kirk Whalum among his students, and he also toured with such superstars as Al Jarreau, Larry Carlton and Joe Sample.

Evans recalls that a benefit concert for Gentry – held after his 2004 accident and featuring Fattburger and Hollis’ childhood friend Nathan East – meant a lot to the saxophonist:

Hollis Gentry

"He was really pleased to see some footage on the news about the benefit concert for him," Evans said. "And he was just really touched. Just really surprised and really overwhelmed. "

By Brian Soergel

Hollis Gentry III, 51; San Diego saxophone legend
Abstract from the San Diego Union-Tribune, Obituaries, September 7th, 2006

The saxophones that were synonymous with Hollis Gentry III's name for more than 30 years are silent now, but the infectious melodies he created with them will continue to echo. Mr. Gentry, one of San Diego's most popular and charismatic jazz artists, died Tuesday at his home in Valencia Park. He was 51.

Mr. Gentry's family did not disclose the cause of death but said it was unrelated to the career-ending injuries he suffered in a car accident in late 2004 that fractured his jaw and caused severe facial damage. He continued to compose after the accident. “He couldn't play his instruments but he was still active, musically,” his daughter, Taura Gentry-Thomas, said. “The music would lift his spirits up. It was therapeutic for him.”

Mr. Gentry's sinewy saxophone playing had a similarly uplifting effect on his many fans in San Diego. His fellow musicians believe that had he relocated to New York or Los Angeles Mr. Gentry could have made a national impact, instead of remaining a local legend. “He was a wonderful musician,” international jazz sax star James Moody said yesterday from his San Carlos home. “But for jazz musicians to thrive, you've got to work outside of San Diego.” Those sentiments were seconded by bassist Nathan East, a close friend of Mr. Gentry since 1969, when they co-founded the funk band Power with Carl Evans Jr. and Skipper Ragsdale. “Hollis was one of the greatest saxophone players that never got heard by the rest of the world,” said East, who has worked with Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand and many other stars.

A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Mr. Gentry moved to San Diego with his family in 1959, shortly before his fifth birthday. He began playing saxophone when he was in fourth grade and soon after graduating from Crawford High School became a protégé of jazz sax giant Cannonball Adderley. He was equally adept at playing bebop, Latin and other styles. Mr. Gentry earned his master's degree in music at UC San Diego in 1980, and he and bassist East, a fellow UCSD grad, became the first musicians in the school's history to earn UCSD's Outstanding Alumnus Award, in 1991.

In the early 1980s Mr. Gentry co-founded the San Diego pop-jazz band Fattburger, although he left not long after its first album was released nationally. He went on to form his own band, Neon, and – with local trumpeter Bruce Cameron – performed a game-opening national anthem during the 1984 World Series at what was then Jack Murphy Stadium. Mr. Gentry toured nationally and abroad with Grammy Award-winning pop-jazz guitarist Larry Carlton and as a member of keyboardist David Benoit's band, but remained based in San Diego. He went on to record two solo albums, including “For the Record,” a 2001 release that found him adding his distinctive touch on tenor and soprano sax to straight-ahead jazz classics by Thad Jones, Joe Henderson and other luminaries.