`Pops' Buford, Seattle Jazz Legend, Tenor-Sax Player And `Sweetest Man'

Seattle jazz legend Vernon "Pops" Buford was sweet and sassy, benign and bossy, insisting on his way in music as in life.

But he was never "brassy," in musicianship or manner. He played reeds - tenor sax, to be exact. And his persona came across solid gold.

"You know he loved jewelry," said Lillie, his wife of 48 years. "He had this big, gold tiger necklace and big, gold tiger ring, with a ruby mouth and diamond eyes, given by his son on different birthdays."

He wore a big, gold Rolex watch.

And then there was the tooth: An upper incisor crafted in good old 14K. People noticed it so much because Pops smiled so much.

"He was the sweetest man you'd ever meet," said his son Ronald, of Renton. "He never raised his voice. I never got a spankin' from him. All adversity for him, ended up being good. That's what he taught me. He used to say, `That problem's gonna brighten up the day for you.' He'd turn it around."

Mr. Buford died Wednesday at 73, having endured diabetes and a stroke. He spent recent years in a wheelchair but never lost that golden smile.

Born one of eight children in Seattle, Mr. Buford lost both parents by age 12 and was sent to live with an aunt in Oakland. He began playing jazz and blues, soon being seen in clubs large and small, seedy and elegant, with top jazz players.

At a war-bond rally, he was seen by Lillie, who made sure he saw her.

"We went to all the high-class places in San Francisco," she said. "With his personality and disposition, he knew how to treat a woman.

"We used to go to Reno and Las Vegas. We heard the great musicians. I have actually cooked for Ray Charles." And composer Quincy Jones was a good friend with whom Buford played in the early days.

The Bufords moved in 1946 to Seattle, where Pops - named for his take-charge manner, according to historian Paul de Barros - played all the old swing clubs, from Fort Lewis to Pioneer Square.

"Pops had a big sound," said colleague Buddy Catlett. "That was the sound those days. I was a teenager when he came back to Seattle and I played with him. He was a big influence on me soundwise."

Last year Pops was awarded a certificate of recognition in a Jazz Pioneers Reunion at the Museum of History and Industry. He is mentioned prominently in de Barros' book "Jackson Street After Hours." And his first instrument was on view at Columbia Seafirst Tower.

Other survivors include his wife's adopted children Angela Wright, Washington, D.C., and Glen Wright, Tacoma; his sister, Bertha Ketter, Oakland; his grandchildren Ronetta Vernell Buford, Emery James Buford Jr. and Sametra Latrice Buford; and two great-grandchildren, Seattle.

Services are at 10 a.m. next Saturday (Feb. 19), in Rosehill Missionary Baptist Church, 7550 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.

Remembrances may be sent to Southwest Mortuary, 9021 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118.