Renowned jazz musician and Department of Music lecturer Hal Stein passed away from lung cancer on Apr. 27, just five months before his 80th birthday.

Stein, who took up saxophone at the age of 11, played with a number of famous artists over his lifetime, including Charles Mingus, Joe Henderson and Artie Shaw. He moved to the Bay Area in 1971 and has been “a fixture” ever since, according to jazz studies coordinator Jim Nadel.

Stein, who had worked for the Department of Music since 1985, taught saxophone lessons and performed until his death.

“He continued to play and be active until the end of his life,” Nadel said. “You could often see him in San Francisco, playing in nightclubs that you would associate with the younger jazz musicians.”

Nadel worked alongside Stein for several years.

“He played very strong in the jazz tradition,” Nadel said. “He emulated Lester Young and Charlie Parker, and he sounded like them.”

Fred Berry, a lecturer in jazz and the director of the Stanford Jazz Orchestra, also worked closely with Stein and played in a band with him.

“He kind of had a reputation among players because he was one of those rare musicians who played with Charlie Parker,” Berry said. “He and Stan Getz were friends.”

It was Stan Getz, who taught at Stanford as an artist in residence in 1985, who brought Stein into the program as a lecturer.

“[Stein] was very accommodating,” Berry said. “He was a mentoring type. A lot of the students all thought very highly of him.”

Stein stopped teaching after fall quarter, taking a medical leave of absence. Lizz Fay ‘11 was one of Stein’s students before he left.

“He was very weathered,” she said. “He knew what he wanted, and he was really funny.”

Nick Murray ‘11 also took saxophone lessons from Stein during fall quarter.

“He was definitely a great jazz musician,” he said. “He was old school. He played at 16 with Charlie Parker.”

Nadel praised both Stein’s character and musicianship.

“He was very witty, and that came across in any personal contact you had with him,” Nadel said. “He had a very warm sound and a great flow of ideas, which is important in playing jazz.”

Charlie McCarthy, woodwind professor at the City College of San Francisco and saxophone instructor at Sonoma State University, has taken over Stein’s classes.