Porter Kilbert
Porter Kilbert (June 10, 1921 – October 23, 1960) was a jazz alto and tenor saxophonist. In September 1942, he replaced Preston Love as lead alto saxophonist in Nat Towles' band, before going on to spend two years with Benny Carter's band, playing in line-ups including Willard Brown, Curly Russell, Max Roach, Oscar Bradley, Ulysses Livingston, Sonny White, Teddy Brannon, Bumps Myers, Gene Porter, Alton Moore, J.J. Johnson, Shorty Haughton, Claude Dunson, Snooky Young, Freddie Webster, Gerald Wilson, and Jake Porter. After a brief spell with Roy Eldridge's band, he joined Red Saunders' band in New York in September 1946. The band later took up residency at Chicago's Club DeLisa, and Kilbert would remain with the Saunders band until January 1952, when he left to form his own band. In December 1946, he was in a line-up led by Coleman Hawkins, recording for Prestige, with Fats Navarro, Milt Jackson, JJ Johnson, Hank Jones, Curley Russell and Max Roach. In 1947, he led an orchestra backing Clarence Samuels recording for Aristocrat. In 1954, he was a member of the Horace Henderson big band and in 1955 and 1956, he participated in a series of "battles of the saxes" with Tom Archia at the C&C Lounge. In 1960, having recorded the previous year for bandleader Quincy Jones, featuring as soloist on some of the tracks, he toured Europe with Jones' big band (with fellow altoist Phil Woods). |
Birth and Death Data: Born Baton Rouge (capital city of Louisiana, United States, and seat of East Baton Rouge Parish), Died October 23, 1960 (Chicago (city and county seat of Cook County, and largest city in State of Illinois, United States of America) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1946 - 1952
Roles Represented in DAHR: alto saxophone
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 33 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | CCO5170 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Blow, Mr. Low-Blow | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5171 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Sharecropper boogie | Miss Sharecropper ; Red Saunders Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5172 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Chi (Chicago) | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5173 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Lyin' girl blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5251 | 10-in. | 4/20/1951 | Stop, pretty baby, stop | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5252 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Mistreatin' woman blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5253 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Week day blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5254 | 10-in. | 4/20/1951 | 4 a.m. | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5278 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Last night's party | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5279 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Hey bartender | Red Saunders Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5280 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Boot 'em up | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5281 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Sugar bounce | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5284 | 10-in. | 8/25/1951 | It's just what you think | Ray Orlando ; Red Saunders Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Columbia | CCO5285 | 10-in. | 8/25/1951 | Lonely | Ray Orlando ; Red Saunders Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |
| Decca | 73335 | 1/31/1946 | Baby that'll be the day | Roy Eldridge Orchestra | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 73336 | 1/31/1946 | All the cats join in | Roy Eldridge Orchestra | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 73337 | 1/31/1946 | Poor John | Roy Eldridge Orchestra | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 73338 | 1/31/1946 | Ain't that a shame | Roy Eldridge Orchestra | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 81695 | 10/9/1951 | Cold, cold heart | Horace Henderson Orchestra | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 81696 | 10/9/1951 | I can't help it | Horace Henderson Orchestra | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 81697 | 10/9/1951 | I ain't in the mood | Donna Hightower | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 81698 | 10/9/1951 | Cry | Donna Hightower | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 82244 | 2/3/1952 | Honest and truly | Donna Hightower | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 82245 | 2/3/1952 | I found a new love | Donna Hightower | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | |||
| Decca | 82635 | 4/4/1952 | Kiss me baby | Donna Hightower | instrumentalist, alto saxophone |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kilbert, Porter," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/325228.
Kilbert, Porter. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/325228.
"Kilbert, Porter." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Porter Kilbert
Discogs: Porter Kilbert
Allmusic: Porter Kilbert
Grove: Porter Kilbert
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Kilbert, Porter, 1921-1960 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2001060792
Wikidata: Porter Kilbert - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1433195
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/24793555
MusicBrainz: Porter Kilbert - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6f9e440f-e43b-4dcf-a93c-6c24a1cbf5f7
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.
