Jimmy Lyons

Biography

Jimmy Lyons (1931–1986) was an American alto saxophonist from Jersey City, best known as the defining sideman of the Cecil Taylor Unit, which he joined in 1961 and served as its only constant member until his death. His bebop-rooted lyricism anchored *Cecil Taylor*'s avant-garde music, and he also led his own groups in the 1970s loft jazz scene. He is filed here as a person, not a band; Musician is proposed, with Influential Sideman the alternative.