Anthony Ortega did nearly every part possible in a music profession that stretched over 70 years that included main a weekly Sunday jam session — into his mid-90s — till his well being started to fail in August.

He collaborated with Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa, Tony Bennett and Tony Orlando, Marvin Gaye and Quincy Jones. He carried out on movie soundtracks, together with taking part in the bravura improvised sax solo within the Oscar-nominated “An Single Lady” and was in the home bands for ABC’s “The Julie Andrews Present” and “The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour.” He additionally taught jazz grasp courses at universities in France and made cutting-edge albums that gained worldwide acclaim.

However there’s no less than one notable factor Ortega — who died of problems from pneumonia Sunday at a hospital in Encinitas at 94 — didn’t do, and it was by selection.

“In 1972, Dad had the chance to do a live performance tour with Elvis Presley,” recalled Kathy Herington, one in every of Ortega’s three daughters. “However my brother was about to graduate from highschool and Dad didn’t need to miss the ceremony.”

The tour went on with out Ortega, who had appeared — taking part in sax at a road block celebration — in “Change of Behavior,” a 1969 characteristic movie that co-starred Presley and Mary Tyler Moore.

“Once I was a child, Dad used to take me with him typically when he was taking part in in Leighton Noble’s massive band within the South Shore Room at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe,” recalled Antony Ortega Jr., a Los Angeles dentist.

“I received to observe Dad rehearse with Nat ‘King’ Cole and Barbra Streisand, and noticed him carry out with Jerry Lewis. Dad would play a flute solo and Jerry would faux he was doing the solo. My dad beloved to play music, and he couldn’t get sufficient of it, nearly to the day he handed away.”

The devoted saxophonist’s last efficiency happened Aug. 21 at Mr. Peabody’s Bar & Grill in Encinitas, the place — since 2011 — he had led a Sunday jam session almost each week till his well being started to falter late this summer season. His solely concession to age was to carry out seated quite than standing.

“Tony was a grasp,” stated Mark Dresser, a music professor at UC San Diego who performed bass commonly with Ortega at San Diego jam periods within the Seventies.

“He was a real improviser, each fully rooted within the custom, basically linear, and but fully free in his taking part in,” Dresser stated. “He had an expansive sound … rhythmic vitality, and a willingness to dig into the sonic corners of the place the music took him. He was outstanding.”

Anthony Robert Ortega was born June 7, 1928, within the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles and started taking part in alto saxophone in ninth grade, adopted by clarinet a yr later. His sax instructor, Lloyd Reese, had additionally mentored such future jazz luminaries as Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy.

“I used to be all the time impressed by music, from a really early age. And my complete dream was to play the sax,” Ortega stated in a 2016 San Diego Union-Tribune interview.

After serving within the U.S. Military from 1948 to 1951, he joined vibraphone star Lionel Hampton’s massive band. Whereas on a tour of Europe with Hampton, Ortega met pianist/vibraphonist Mona Ørbeck in Oslo.

The couple, who turned skilled music collaborators, married and celebrated their 69th wedding ceremony anniversary this yr. They moved to El Monte in 1954 and Hollywood two years later. They relocated to Lake Tahoe round 1960 and Azusa in 1965, earlier than settling in Encinitas in northern San Diego County in 1975.

Ortega’s debut album, “The Anthony Ortega Quartet,” was launched in 1954. His all-star 1961 album, “A Man and His Horns,” featured him double-tracking the entire a number of horn elements.

Ortega’s most up-to-date album, “Afternoon in Paris,” was launched in 2007 by the Swiss file label Hat Hut. He was the topic of the 1994 guide, “Central Avenue Sounds: Anthony Ortega” and the 2007 movie documentary, “The Avenue We Took.”

But, whereas jazz was his best musical ardour, Ortega’s instrumental versatility enabled him to work with such numerous singers as Sinatra, Streisand and José Feliciano. Ortega’s big-band credit included ensembles led by Hampton, Gerald Clayton, Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman and others. He additionally labored in smaller teams with Dizzy Gillespie, Chico Hamilton, Buddy Colette, Gigi Gryce and extra.

Ortega carried out on the soundtracks to an array of movies, together with “Gloria,” “The Pawnbroker” and “I, the Jury.” His TV credit included “The Lucy Present” and “The Bobby Darin Present.”

“After we had been residing in L.A., we’d collect across the TV and watch Dad when he performed on Julie Andrews’ present,” recalled Ortega’s daughter Kathy, who sang within the San Diego band the Fabulous Mar Dels from 1994 to 2008. “Dad received us her autograph and we had been like: ‘Wow! That’s Mary Poppins!’ ”

For all his many credit with different musicians, it was as a solo artist, composer and band chief that Ortega shined brightest. The ingredient of shock was paramount in his taking part in, whether or not in a standard or experimental context, or someplace in between.

“I prefer to have a pleasing sound and make it fairly. Nonetheless, in several cases, you get rougher and make it extra like an exploration,” Ortega stated in his 2016 Union-Tribune interview.

“The purpose is to not overdo anyone specific factor — and to have a look at it as a narrative, or a worth, inside the composition that you’re making an attempt to get throughout,” he stated.

Ortega’s daughter Kathy and son Tony Jr. each marvel at how devoted their father was to music, on stage and off, and to his household.

“He was all the time working towards at dwelling, all the time bettering,” Tony Jr. stated. “I hope individuals will hearken to his albums and — as a result of he was so good — ask: ‘How come he wasn’t well-known?’ However his dedication was to the music, to not making an attempt to grow to be a star.”

Ortega is survived by his spouse, Mona; son Tony Jr. ; daughters Kathy Herrington, Lisa Ortega and Kim Backus; and 4 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.