Woods was born in
Springfield, Massachusetts. at a local music shop. His heroes on the alto saxophone included
Benny Carter and
Johnny Hodges. He studied music with
Lennie Tristano at the
Manhattan School of Music and at the
Juilliard School. After moving to France in 1968, Woods led the European Rhythm Machine, which tended toward
avant-garde jazz. as well as
Paul Simon's "Have a Good Time" from the 1975 album
Still Crazy After All These Years. Although Woods was primarily a saxophonist, he was also a clarinet player, and solos are scattered through his recordings. One example is his clarinet solo on "
Misirlou" on the compilation album,
Into the Woods. Woods, along with Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert, founded the organization Celebration of the Arts (COTA) in 1978 late one night in the bar at the Deer Head Inn in
Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. The organization would eventually become the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts. Their initial goal was to help foster an appreciation of jazz and its relationship to other artistic disciplines. Each year, the organization hosts the
Celebration of the Arts Festival in September. In 2005, Jazzed Media released the documentary
Phil Woods: A Life in E Flat – Portrait of a Jazz Legend, directed by Rich Lerner and produced by Graham Carter. Woods was married to
Chan Parker, the common-law wife of Charlie Parker, for seventeen years and was the stepfather to Chan's daughter, Kim. ==Awards==