Arnett Cobb was born on August 10, 1918 in Houston, Texas. His grandmother taught him to play the piano. Then he studied violin. He didn’t start playing the tenor saxophone until he was in high school. When he was 15, he started performing with Frank Davis around Houston and in the summers in Louisiana. In 1936, he joined the Milton Larkin Orchestra.

Originally, Cobb turned down playing in Lionel Hampton’s orchestra, but in 1942 he changed his mind and replaced Illinois Jacquet in the band. He stayed with Hampton for five years, before leaving to form his own band.

Here is a 1982 performance from a concert in Berlin.