Lew Tabackin

Lew Tabackin (born May 26, 1940 in Philadelphia) is a jazz flautist and a tenor saxophonist. He is married to Toshiko Akiyoshi, who is a jazz pianist and a composer/arranger. Tabackin was co-founder and principal soloist for the Toshiko Akiyoshi ? Lew Tabackin Big Band and the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, from 1973 through 2003. Tabackin studied flute at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and also studied music with composer Vincent Persichetti.

Tabackin studied flute at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and also studied music with composer Vincent Persichetti. In 1962 he graduated from the Conservatory and, after a stint with the U.S. Army, worked with Tal Farlow. He also worked in a combo that included Elvin Jones, Donald Byrd, and Roland Hanna. Later he would have a chair in The Dick Cavett Show's band. He also formed a quartet with Toshiko Akiyoshi, which in 1973 became the aforementioned big band.