Bud Shank, who died on 2 April, 2009, aged 82, was a jazz woodwind musician who dipped his toes in a variety of musical styles.

His collaborations included such diverse recordings as the flute solo on The Mamas and the Papas’ hit California Dreamin’ (1965) and Ravi Shankar’s Improvisations album (1962).

Shank was a key figure in the West Coast jazz scene. His claims to fame also include being a pioneer of bossa nova and contributing to the heady collaborative psychedelic rock album The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds (1967).

For most of his career he was known for playing both the flute and the alto saxophone, though in later life he concentrated on the latter instrument.

In fact, Clifford Everett Shank Jr, as he was born on 27 May, 1926, in Dayton, Ohio, initially played the clarinet but switched to the sax before attending the University of North Carolina. He left without graduating when the university dance band launched an ill-fated bid to turn professional.

He moved to California where he learned to play the flute from a flatmate. The additional string to his bow, as it were, set him apart from other musicians and helped him join Stan Kenton’s jazz orchestra.

He went on to make numerous recordings with other West Coast figures such as Shorty Rogers, Bill Perkins, Maynard Ferguson, Bob Cooper and Latino guitarist Laurindo Almeida. He led his own quintet in the late 1950s and the following decade he contributed to film soundtracks including that of The Sandpiper (1965), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and numerous surfing movies.

The musician also collaborated with folk singer Joni Mitchell, smooth jazz pianist Sergio Mendes and Gene Clark of the Byrds. He performed as a quarter of the LA Four in the ’70s and later set up a jazz summer school.

He was still performing and recording into his old age and was working on a new album when he died at his home in Tucson, Arizona from a pulmonary failure. He was survived by his wife, Linda.