In Memory of Billy Tolles

Saxophonist Billy Tolles lit up Denver jazz scene
By Norman Provizer, Special To The News
January 28, 2005

Billy Tolles was one of the most visible players in Denver for nearly four decades, combining his jazz roots with a variety of musical branches. The longtime Denver saxophonist died Jan. 18 at age 80 of cancer. His contribution to local music will be remembered with a memorial service at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Mile Hi Church, 9077 W. Alameda Ave., Lakewood. A reception will follow at Herb's Hideout, 2057 Larimer St.

During his lengthy career, Mr. Tolles played with the likes of Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones, Lionel Hampton and Ray Charles. He played in Las Vegas hotels and on the Playboy Club circuit.

Mr. Tolles was born May 11, 1924, in Waukegan, Ill. At age 5, he moved with his family to Seattle. After picking up the saxophone at 13, he emerged as one of the staples of that city's jazz scene, leading Seattle's first swing band while he was still in high school.

Mr. Tolles gained experience while a student at North Carolina A&T, where he performed in the marching band with saxophonist Lou Donaldson. In the liner notes for Mr. Tolles' 2002 album Chapulteset, Donaldson recalled those days. "At that time Billy was the only musician playing jazz. He sounded like Lester Young, big tone - full and rich."

That tone remained with Mr. Tolles and was supplemented by a gruffer, rhythm-and-blues edge in his playing. After college, he spent time at Boston's Schillinger School of Music (later the Berklee College of Music) and filled in with the famous bebop orchestra led by Eckstine at the Tic Toc Club.

Then he headed to New York and master's degree work at Columbia University. At the time, 52nd Street was the place to be, and the tenor saxophonist began making a name for himself before the Army called him to Korea. Returning to Seattle after military service, Mr. Tolles ended up hosting his own TV show, The Billy Tolles Rock and Roll Show, for two years. In the mid-'60s, he visited an Army friend who lived in Denver and moved here in 1966. Seattle would remember his time there with a certificate of recognition in 1993 and references in a book on the city's jazz scene, Jackson Street After Hours, by Paul De Barros.

In Denver, Mr. Tolles began working at the Cleft Club across the street from the Rossonian Hotel in Five Points owned by Horace Henderson. Over the years, Mr. Tolles would lead the house band at numerous spots, including El Chapultepec in lower downtown, and perform with his own group, the Billy Tolles Express, covering a broad spectrum of music.

While working at the BBC Club in the early 1970s, he met the woman who would become his wife for the last 25 years of his life. "He was very talented and a gentleman from the old school," said his wife, Brandee Woods Tolles. "He was always eager and willing to help new musicians who were starting out. And when he was ill, we got calls from around the country from musicians whom he had helped."

Drummer Kevin Smith began playing with Mr. Tolles at the age of 17 and ultimately worked with him for 33 years. "He is the real deal, who represents the end of an era," Smith said. In addition to his wife, Mr. Tolles is survived by a daughter, Sylvia Cotton, and a grandson, Omar Cotton.