Lew Tabackin is an artist of astonishing vision. His electrifying flute playing is at once virtuosic, primordial, cross-cultural, and passionate. His distinctive tenor sax style includes the use of wide intervals, abrupt changes of mood and tempo, and purposeful fervor, all in the service of showing the full range of possibilities of his instrument – melodically, rhythmically, and dynamically. His interest in music began in his birthplace, Philadelphia, where he first studied flute and then tenor saxophone in high school. After a stint in the Army, Mr. Tabackin moved to New Jersey and then to New York, where he played with Tal Farlow and Don Friedman and later in big bands led by Cab Calloway, Maynard Ferguson, Joe Henderson, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Clark Terry, and others. In 1968, he met Toshiko Akiyoshi; they married and moved to Los Angeles, where they formed the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. In addition to the Newport All-Stars, Mr. Tabackin has been associated with several great bands, including the New York Jazz Giants and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band.