Grover Washington Jr.

Grover Washington Jr. was one of those rare musicians who could make an entire room stop and listen without ever raising the volume. Growing up in Buffalo and learning saxophone almost before he could properly hold one, he spent years woodshedding in Army bands before hitting the studio — and when he finally did, records like Mister Magic and Winelight showed the world what soul-jazz could sound like when it had genuine heart. His collaboration with Bill Withers on Just the Two of Us became one of the most instantly recognizable saxophone moments in pop history, and it still sounds perfect today. He had chops that could satisfy hardcore jazz fans while remaining genuinely warm and accessible to everyone else, which is a much harder trick to pull off than it sounds. Losing him at 56, collapsing right after a television taping, felt brutally sudden — the music he might still have made haunts me a little whenever I put on Winelight on a late night.

Name (English)

Grover Washington Jr.

Name (Japanese)

グローヴァー・ワシントン・ジュニア

Reading

ぐろーゔぁー・わしんとん・じゅにあ

Born

December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Goat

Origin

Buffalo, New York, United States

Occupation

composer / saxophonist / jazz musician / recording artist / musician

High school

East High School

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttp://www.groverwashingtonjr.com/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AF%E3%82%B7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%8B%E3%82%A2

Tags

• New York
• composer
• saxophonist
• jazz musician

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.