Dezie McCullers - Saxophone
Dezie was born with music in his genes. His
namesake and father, Dezie McCullers, Sr. was a
renowned trumpeter and saxophonist, playing with the
Motown review and leader of his own orchestra.
Dezie would regularly play at his dad’ jam sessions in
Southwest Detroit back in the 1960’s where many
famous musicians including Lonnie Smith, Earl Van
Dyke, Marcus Belgrave, George Benson, and others
would stop by to play when they were in town.
Dezie started playing clarinet at age 11, and at age
13 his dad bought him his first sax. After graduating
from Northwestern High School, Dezie played with
many local Detroit area bands.
Dezie has played with many musicians over the years
including Sammy Davis Jr., George Benson, Lonnie
Smith, Martha Reeves, New Birth, and with sister jazz
flautist Althea Rene.
Also a talented song writer, his song writing credits
include co-writing five songs on Dee Browns album A
Little Elbowroom including the title track. The single
“True Reality” from that album is currently playing on
the radio. He has also wrote two songs on Dee Brown’
s first album No Time to Waste including “Blue Street”
and “Dee Brown’s Place.”
Dezie’s favorite sax players include Charlie Parker,
Sonny Stitt, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly,
Grover Washington, Stanley Turrentine, Hank
Crawford, and David Sanborn.
Having recently moved to Arizona from Detroit, Dezie
has been playing with local groups including Level VI,
The Gentlemen of Soul, and, of course, AKAThisIsUs.
.