He was born in
Atlantic City,
New Jersey, and began his career in music at the age of 18 with the bands of
Tommy Dorsey,
Shep Fields,
Boyd Raeburn and
Don Redman. He also performed many times with his older brother, clarinetist
Abe Most. His first recording was at age 23 on a Prestige 7" EP, "Introducing A New Star Sam Most". The record included a track titled "Undercurrent Blues" that featured an extended flute solo. The next year he was awarded
DownBeat magazine's "Critic's New Star Award". Between 1953 and 1958 Most led and recorded sessions for the
Prestige,
Debut,
Vanguard and
Bethlehem labels. He also did session work for
Chris Connor,
Paul Quinichette and
Teddy Wilson. He was a member of the
Buddy Rich band from 1959 to 1961. Most resurfaced in the late 1970s recording six albums on the
Xanadu label. From 1987 Most, with producer Fernando Gelbard of Liquidjazz.com, recorded four albums, including
Solo Flute. He was the guest of and played for the
King of Thailand three times. He was the subject of Edmond Goff's
documentary film Sam Most, Jazz Flutist (2001). Sam Most died on June 13, 2013, from cancer, at
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He was 82. ==Discography==