Garth Hudson, the wildly talented multi-instrumentalist best known for playing keyboards and saxophone with The Band, has died. He was 87.
Hudson was the last remaining founding member of the influential Americana band. Guitarist Robbie Robertson died last year at the age of 80, after drummer Levon Helm died in 2012 at 71, bassist Rick Danko in 1999 at 55, and pianist Richard Manuel in 1986 at 42.
Hudson’s death was first reported by the Toronto Star, which quoted Hudson’s estate executor as saying the musician died peacefully in his sleep this morning (January 21) at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York.
He died not far from the pink house in West Saugerties that became well-known as the location where Bob Dylan and The Band recorded The Basement Tapes and wrote their seminal debut album Music From Big Pink.
Hudson was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on August 2, 1937. He started playing piano at a young age and received classical training in music theory, harmony, and counterpoint.
He joined the London, Ontario-based Silhouettes as a saxophonist in 1956, when he was 19. During his five years with the group, he also played organ after becoming fascinated by the sound of a Lowrey organ.
Hudson’s musicianship drew the attention of rock’n’roll singer Ronnie Hawkins, whose backing band The Hawks would eventually become The Band.
In 1961, Hudson agreed to join the Hawks on the condition that they buy him a Lowrey Organ and pay him an additional $10 to teach music to the other band members.
The Hawks split from Hawkins in 1963 and toured as Levon and the Hawks until they met Bob Dylan in 1965. They were hired by the former folk icon for his controversial “electric” rock’n’roll tour in 1966, the same year they moved together to the pink house near Woodstock.
When Dylan visited the house to record The Basement Tapes, Hudson played his Lowrey organ, clavinet, accordion, tenor saxophone, and piano while also serving as recording engineer. In 1968, they released Music from Big Pink, which officially changed their name to The Band.
The album launched their career, propelling them to the top ranks of the era’s rock bands. They released five more albums before wrapping up with an all-star final concert featuring Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and many others, which was recorded by Martin Scorsese and later released as The Last Waltz.
In Scorsese’s film, Hudson, who was rarely interviewed, shared his thoughts on the role of music in the world: “There is a view that jazz is ‘evil’ because it comes from evil people, but actually the greatest priests on 52nd Street and on the streets of New York City were the musicians. They were doing incredible healing work. They knew how to use music to heal and make people happy.
The Band reformed sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s before Hudson launched a solo career with the 2001 album The Sea to the North.
He made his final public appearance in April 2023, at the Flower Hill House Concert No. 6 in Kingston, New York, performing Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady”.