# Sax Kari

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{{Short description|American multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and songwriter (1920–2009)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Sax Kari
| image           = Sax_Kari_musician.jpg
| caption         =
| image_size      = 160px
| birth_name      = Isaac Columbus Toombs Jr.
| alias           = Saxton Kari<br>Candy Yams<br>Ira Green<br>Texas Red<br>Dirty Red Morgan
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1920|2|6|mf=y}}
| birth_place     = [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois), U.S.
| death_date      = {{death date and age|2009|10|1|1920|2|6|mf=y}}
| death_place     = [Tampa](/source/Tampa), Florida, U.S.
| origin          =
| instrument      = Vocals, guitar, piano, organ, saxophone
| genre           = [R&B](/source/Rhythm_and_blues), [disco](/source/disco), [funk](/source/funk)
| occupation      = Musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer
| years_active    = 1930s–1990s
| label           =
| associated_acts =
| website         =
| current_members =
| past_members    = 
}}

'''Sax Kari''' (February 6, 1920 – October 1, 2009), born '''Isaac Columbus Toombs Jr.''',<ref name=eagle/> sometimes known as '''Isaac Saxton Kari Toombs''' or simply '''Saxton Kari''',<ref name=lauterbach>[https://archive.org/details/chitlincircuitro00laut/page/2 <!-- quote=isaac saxton toombs. --> Preston Lauterbach, ''The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll'', W. W. Norton & Company, 2011, pp. 2–4]</ref> was an American multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, [A&R](/source/A%26R) man and promoter, who had a wide variety of roles during a career in African American entertainment and [R&B](/source/R%26B) music lasting from the 1920s to the 1990s.  He also used pseudonyms, including '''Ira Green''', '''Texas Red''', '''Dirty Red Morgan''', and '''Candy Yams'''.

==Life and career==
He was born in Chicago, the son of [Tennessee](/source/Tennessee)-born Isaac Columbus Toombs and his wife Irene.<ref>[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=isaac+saxton+kari&gsln=toombs&MSAV=1&msbdy=1921&cpxt=1&cp=12&catbucket=rstp&uidh=jq5&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=31086&recoff=11+13+50+52&db=FSCookILBirth&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2 Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, 1871–1922, Provo, UT, USA: ''Ancestry.com'']</ref><ref name=eagle>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&dq=isaac+toombs+2009&pg=PA65  Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc, ''Blues: A Regional Experience'', ABC-CLIO, 2013, p. 65]</ref> As a child, he ran away from home and from the age of nine performed in [vaudeville](/source/vaudeville) as a comic entertainer with [Butterbeans and Susie](/source/Butterbeans_and_Susie), who gave him the nickname "[Candy Yams](/source/Sweet_potato)" for his relatively light freckled complexion.  He learned to play piano, guitar, and [reed instrument](/source/reed_instrument)s, and by 1940 was living in [Gary, Indiana](/source/Gary%2C_Indiana), with his mother.<ref>[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/2442/M-T0627-01120-00586?pid=53273305&backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-g%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3disaac%2bsaxton%2bkari%26gsln%3dtoombs%26MSAV%3d1%26msbdy%3d1921%26cpxt%3d1%26cp%3d12%26catbucket%3drstp%26uidh%3djq5%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d53273305%26db%3d1940usfedcen%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d1&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true  1940 United States Federal Census, ''Ancestry.com'']. retrieved November 3, 2015</ref> He worked in bands as a guitarist, and in 1942 took [Charlie Christian](/source/Charlie_Christian)'s place in the orchestra at the Lyon's Den club in [Oklahoma City](/source/Oklahoma_City).<ref name=eagle/> He began working with and for club owner and entrepreneur [Denver D. Ferguson](/source/Denver_D._Ferguson) in [Indianapolis](/source/Indianapolis) in the early 1940s, promoting concerts and helping Ferguson set up the network later known as the "[Chitlin' Circuit](/source/Chitlin'_Circuit)".<ref name=eagle/><ref name=lauterbach/>

He formed his own eighteen-piece touring band, and settled in Detroit around 1945.  He made his first recordings with his orchestra for [Imperial Records](/source/Imperial_Records) in 1947,<ref name=eagle/> followed by recordings with vocalist Roosevelt "Whiskey" Sheffield for [Apollo](/source/Apollo_Records_(1944)) in 1949.<ref name=wangdangdula>[http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/saxkari.htm  Pete Hoppula, "Sax Kari Discography", ''WangDangDula.com'']. Retrieved November 2, 2015</ref> In 1953, he released his most successful record, "Daughter (That's Your Red Wagon)", an [answer song](/source/answer_song) to [Ruth Brown](/source/Ruth_Brown)'s "[(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean](/source/(Mama)_He_Treats_Your_Daughter_Mean)", which reached No. 8 on the ''[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))'' [R&B chart](/source/R%26B_chart).  The record was credited to "Swinging Sax Kari" and featured singer Gloria Irving.<ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research |page=239}}</ref>

During the 1950s he worked with [Houston](/source/Houston) promoter [Don Robey](/source/Don_Robey). In the mid-1950s in Detroit, he produced early recording sessions with [Della Reese](/source/Della_Reese), as well as recording [novelty record](/source/novelty_record)s such as "Chocolate Fizz" and "Goldie the Green-Eyed Octopus" under his own name, on a variety of mostly small independent labels.<ref name=lauterbach/><ref name=wangdangdula/> He wrote and produced for other musicians on labels including [Checker](/source/Checker_Records) and [Vee Jay](/source/Vee_Jay_Records).<ref name=discogs>[http://www.discogs.com/artist/502592-Saxton-Kari?filter_anv=0&subtype=Writing-Arrangement&type=Credits  Saxton Kari, Credits, ''Discogs.com'']. Retrieved November 3, 2015</ref> In 1959, he produced the single "You're So Fine" by [The Falcons](/source/The_Falcons), a group that included [Mack Rice](/source/Mack_Rice), [Eddie Floyd](/source/Eddie_Floyd) and [Robert Ward](/source/Robert_Ward_(blues_musician)). The song reached No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 17 on the pop chart.<ref name=lauterbach/>

In the early 1960s, he moved to [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans), where he set up a recording studio and worked with [Allen Toussaint](/source/Allen_Toussaint) as an A&R man and producer for his [Sansu](/source/Sansu_Records) record label. He managed R&B shouter [Esquerita](/source/Esquerita), and produced records by [Chris Kenner](/source/Chris_Kenner), [Polka Dot Slim](/source/Polka_Dot_Slim), and others.<ref name=lauterbach/> By the late 1960s he had moved to [Mobile, Alabama](/source/Mobile%2C_Alabama), where he set up a record store and his own label, Channel 1.  He worked as a songwriter for [Henry Stone](/source/Henry_Stone)'s [TK](/source/T.K._Records) label in [Miami, Florida](/source/Miami%2C_Florida), writing for [George McCrae](/source/George_McCrae), [Wilson Pickett](/source/Wilson_Pickett) and others.<ref name=discogs/><ref name=detective>[http://souldetective.blogspot.co.uk/2006/08/case-four-charles-soul-brown.html  "Case Four: Charles 'Soul' Brown", ''Soul Detective'', 2006]. Retrieved November 3, 2015</ref> He composed the soundtrack for the 1978 [blaxploitation](/source/blaxploitation) movie ''The Six Thousand Dollar Nigger'', also known as ''Super Soul Brother'', starring [Wildman Steve](/source/Wildman_Steve).<ref name=lauterbach/><ref name=plcharacters/>       
 
He wrote for [Rock Candy Records](/source/Rock_Candy_Records), a [hip-hop](/source/hip-hop) label in New York, in the early 1980s, and also toured with a band, Four Sticks of Dynamite and a Fuse – the fuse being a female dancer.  The band won a residency at a club in [Seffner, Florida](/source/Seffner%2C_Florida), and Kari settled there.  He also started performing as a solo act in resorts in the [Tampa](/source/Tampa) area, often billed under his old nickname as "Candy Yams".<ref name=lauterbach/> In 1997, he released a CD, ''Love Juice'', credited to Candy Yams and the Bluesville Express.<ref name=wangdangdula/>

He retired to [Brandon, Florida](/source/Brandon%2C_Florida), where he was interviewed by Preston Lauterbach and provided much of the background information for Lauterbach's book, ''The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll''.<ref name=plcharacters>[http://prestonlauterbach.com/book/characters/sax-kari/  Preston Lauterbach, "Sax Kari"]. Retrieved November 3, 2015</ref> Sax Kari died in Florida in 2009, aged 89.<ref name=lauterbach/>

A compilation of his New Orleans recordings, ''Fumigate Funky Broadway'', was issued on CD in 2002.<ref name=wangdangdula/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://thechitlincircuit.substack.com/p/chocolate-fizz Preston Lauterbach, "Chocolate Fizz!: Sax Kari Scrapbook"]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kari, Sax}}
Category:1920 births
Category:2009 deaths
Category:Record producers from Illinois
Category:American rhythm and blues musicians
Category:Musicians from Chicago
Category:People from Brandon, Florida
Category:People from Seffner, Florida
Category:20th-century African-American musicians
Category:21st-century African-American musicians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sax Kari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sax_Kari) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sax_Kari?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.