Rusty Bryant has been played on NTS in shows including Afrobuddha Presents: Spirits Frequency, featured first on 2 August 2014. Songs played include Fire Eater.

The muscular, groove-oriented tenor of Rusty Bryant was heard to best effect on his funky soul-jazz albums for Prestige in the late '60s and early '70s, though he'd actually been leading bands since the '50s.

Born Royal G. Bryant in Huntington, WV, on November 25, 1929, he grew up in Columbus, OH, where he became an important part of the local jazz scene, playing a robust, wailing tenor sax inspired by the likes of Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. He first…