A swing-oriented reedman and studio player who was active from the 1940s to the 1980s, Ted Nash (born in Somerville, MA, in October 31, 1922) is best known for his association with Les Brown and should not be confused with his nephew Ted Nash (who was named after his uncle and was born in L.A. in 1959). Both play the tenor saxophone, but while the younger Nash has embraced hard bop and post bop and experimented with avant-garde jazz, the older one was very much a product of the Swing Era.

The older Nash (whose brother is trombonist Dick Nash, father of the younger Ted Nash) starting getting busy in the 1940s, when he was a key soloist in Les Brown's big band and worked with both jazz and pop figures. While in Brown's employ, Nash played on such #1 hits of the 1940s as "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Day" (both of which featured a young Doris Day). Nash backed quite a few noteworthy singers in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat "King" Cole, Nancy Wilson and June Christy.

Though Nash led or co-led some sessions on Starlite, Liberty and Columbia in the 1950s, most of his income came from backing others. Nash worked with the famous composer Henry Mancini in the 1960s, and in the 1970s, he was employed by artists ranging from pop-folk vocalist Judy Collins to Quincy Jones (who used him for the celebrated Roots). Nash retired from music in the 1980s.

Ted Nash passed away on May 12, 2011

Alex Henderson -All Music Guide