SANTA FE, N.M., July 2 (UPI) -- Internationally acclaimed jazz flautist Herbie Mann died of inoperable prostate cancer Wednesday at his Santa Fe home. He was 73.
Mann was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April l6, l930, as Herbert Jay Solomon. At the age of nine, he saw his first concert -- Benny Goodman -- and the musical die was cast.
His first instrument was a clarinet and by age 14 he was playing in bands in the Catskills. He then served for four years with the U.S. Army in Italy as a musician.
Along the way, Mann taught himself to play the tenor saxophone and, ultimately, the flute.
In 1961, Mann went to Brazil and helped usher in the Bossa Nova craze. These were the first recordings made that combined Brazilian musicians and their music with an American jazz player.
After nearly 60 years of living in New York City, Mann moved to Santa Fe in 1989 with his wife, Susan Janeal Arison, who survives him.
