Group & Last Name Index to Full History:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Tracks are listed in chronological order by year, then alphabetically.
Listings do not reflect proper order by month or day: later oft precedes earlier.
Find on Page = F3. Not on this page? See history tree below.
Featured on this page loosely in order of first recording if not record release (as possible).
Names are alphabetical, not chronological, per year:
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Caveats in the employment of this page: 1. It descends in chronological
order by the year the artist or band is first found on a commercial record
issue (ideally) by year only, alphabetical thereat. One musician above
another doesn't necessarily translate to earlier issue unless the year
changed. 2. Though release dates are the aim with links to YouTube, some are
recording dates and may not be everywhere clearly distinguished. 3. Reissues
are used to represent originals without much discussion. |
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| This page concerns musicians
who invaded jazz during the decade that the Beatles landed in America to
change the thrust of rock n roll to its very substance (their Merseybeat,
the Rolling Stones meanwhile addressing raw R&B). Documented here are
saxophonists who began their recording careers in the sixties. Other
instruments of the period at Keyboards and
Various. Vocalists at
Modern Jazz Song. Jazz and
rock were two very different realms during the sixties. Jazz was alike classical in its
elite exclusivity, something of a rarified underground to those in the know. Who couldn't love the Beatle's best-selling single, 'She
Loves You' ('63), and countless else by that group and others? But the
classical and jazz genres held the high cards, and yet do, in composition
and
instrumental command. All those hysterical screaming girls in the sixties
couldn't hear
what they were missing when, only just prior, jazz left the Milky Way like, way out,
then began to implode via free
form. This page is thus populated with numerous black holes containing
information, dependent, be as may, upon interpreter. As for jazz and rock,
they would begin to merge in the latter sixties, bringing about the jazz
fusion that exploded in the seventies and has remained a major mix ever
since. This page is extended a bit to include but a touch of early jazz
fusion in its emergence. As for other jazz on this page in this sixties, the field of jazz became highly sophisticated
by that time. It was a little like chemistry: you had to be pretty hot
in the first place only to consider it for a career. The bar had gotten set
pretty high as of musical giants in the fifties. Amidst those more
experienced luminaries on
sax, horn, strings, piano and drums, who
began to populate the field of jazz in the sixties had to be capable of the real stuff,
having required several years of intent study. Howsoever, this page is
arranged differently than the others in this history. On other pages, jazz
musicians recording prior to 1960 are arranged by the instrument they played. But
on this page we've put together a giant orchestra of some of the more
prominent jazz musicians who first appeared on vinyl in the sixties
regardless of the instrument they played. Though most on this page are
instrumentalists, we've included a couple of vocalists as well. A good
number of jazz musicians well-known in the United States, but born
elsewhere, may be found at Sixties Jazz
International. It also occurs that some
musicians might have recorded earlier than one might think, thus to be found
in an earlier period according to their instrument. Sessions data this page
per
Lord's Disco.
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||
 Joe Farrell Source: Steve Kahn |
Born Joseph Carl Firrantello in 1937 in Chicago, saxophonist,
Joe Farrell
is thought to have published his first composition, 'Tomboy' in 1959,
co-written with Jim Conway and released by
Perry Como. His first
determinable appearance on vinyl was with
Maynard Ferguson in 1960 on the
album, 'Newport Suite'. Farrell would join
Ferguson on seven more albums
including a couple featuring vocalist,
Chris Connor, to 'Conquistador'
issued in 1977. Well to comment that after Farrell's fisrt session with
Ferguson he joined bassist,
Charles Mingus, for 'Pre Bird' in
May of 1960. He and
Mingus would visit again at Radio
City Music Hall in NYC on July 7, 1974, for 'All the Things You Are' and a
medley including 'I Can't Get Started, 'Smoke Get's In Your Eyes', et al.
Much more consequential to Farrell's career was bassist,
Ron Carter, with whom he'd joined
trumpeter,
Dizzy Reece, for the latter's
'Asia Minor' on March 13, 1962. Included were
Cecil Payne (baritone sax),
Hank Jones (piano) and Charlie Persip
(drums). Come February 17, 1967, for titles with
Stanley Turrentine that
would see issue in 2007 on 'A Bluish Bag'.
Carter and Farrell fairly reined
the same wagon in support of other bands through countless sessions to as
late as
Hank Crawford's 'Don't Worry
'Bout a Thing' in June of 1974. Of yet greater significance was keyboardist,
Chick Corea, with whom his first
mutual session had been in October of 1962 for Willie Bobo's 'Bobo's Beat'.
While also supporting other bands on occasion for the next thirty years
Farrell also participated in nine Corea albums
from 'Tones for Joan's
Bones' in 1966 to 'Secret Agent' in 1978. Half of the latter eight were with
Corea's ensemble, Return to
Forever, its last studio LP, 'Musicmagic', issued in 1977, 'Live' in 1978.
Corea contributed to Farrell's
first name issues on October 1, 1967, for his composition, '13 Avenue B',
and a cover of 'Stella by Starlight'. Those got released on 'Jazz for a
Sunday Afternoon Vol 4' in 1969. Corea
also supported Farrell's debut LP, 'Joe Farrell Quartet', in July of 1970,
'Outback' in November of '71 and 'Skateboard Park' on January 29, 1979.
Other large figures along Farrell's path were trumpeter,
Thad Jones, and drummer,
Mel Lewis. Farrell and
Jones first got mixed together in
Europe in July of 1964 to record a cover of
Thelonious Monk's ''Round Midnight'
for pianist,
George Russell. That got included on
the
Russell CD, 'Things New: Unissued
Concerts 1960 & 1964', in 2007. Come September of 1964 in Germany for
Russell's 'Live in Breman and Paris
1964'. Farrell first recorded with the famous
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
partnership on February 7, 1966, per their Big Band at the Village Vanguard
in NYC for titles like 'Big Dipper', 'Mornin' Reverend', et al. Farrell was
also a member of the
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
Jazz Orchestra, last recording with that operation on June 17, 1969, for
'Central Park North'.
Jones and Farrell would hook up
again in NYC in 1971 with the
Hermeto Pascoal
Orchestra for 'Hermeto'. That occasion with the
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
Big Band in February of 1966 meant a strong acquaintance with bassist,
Richard Davis, also a a member
of the Jazz Orchestra. After their mutual period with that affair they
joined
Lou Donaldson in December of 1972 for
'Sophisticated Lou'. Backing up to
Russell and
Jones in July of 1964 per above,
that included trombonist, Garnett Brown, Farrell and Brown to mix numerously
in support of various bands, like the
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
outfit, into the seventies. Brown supported Farrell on 'Night Dancing' in
1978. Trumpeter, Marvin Stamm, was another close associate, joining the
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
Jazz Orchestra on January 24, 1967, for 'Sophisticated Lady', 'Willow Tree'
and 'Hawaii'. That would lead to oft interweaving paths in the support of
numerous, such as
T-Bone Walker, to as late as
Maynard Ferguson's
'Conquistador' in 1978 in San Francisco. We trip back but break no bones to
October 1, 1967, for Farrell's initial session with drummer,
Elvin Jones, that with
Chick Corea for Farrell's first
name issues, his composition, '13 Avenue B', and a cover of 'Stella by
Starlight'. Per above, those got issued on 'Jazz for a Sunday Afternoon Vol
4' in 1969. Also in on that had been
Richard Davis, Brown and Stamm.
Farrell would emerge on nine of
Jones' albums from 'Puttin' It
Together' on April 8 of 1968 to 'New Agenda' in 1975. Along the way
Jones had provided rhythm to
Farrell's 'Outback' in November of 1971. The early seventies witnessed
Farrell's involvement with Brazilian musicians arriving to the States,
Antônio Carlos Jobim
leading on March 16 of 1970 for 'Ampora' with
Eumir Deodato arranging,
that with future sessions to find release on 'Stone Flower'.
Airto Moreira contributed
percussion to that, commencing an association that witnessed numerous
sessions together in the support of various, such as
Chick Corea, into the seventies.
November 1971 saw
Moreira siding Farrell's
'Outback' with Corea (piano),
Buster Williams (bass) and
Elvin Jones (drums). It was
Moreira's 'Free' in early
1972. 1978 found
Moreira participating in
Farrell's 'Night Dancing'. Farrell contributed to
Moreira's 'Latino: Aqui Se
Puede' issued in 1984 (issued in Germany as 'Jump' in 1993'). May 5 of 1985
saw them recording 'Three-Way Mirror' with Brazilian vocalist,
Flora Purim. Farrell had first
backed Purim in the
Hermeto Pascoal
Orchestra in NYC for 'Hermeto' in 1971. Among multiple recordings together
was 'Light as a Feather' on tour to London in October of 1972. Included on
that were Corea (keyboards),
Moreira (percussion) and
Stanley Clarke (bass).
Sometime in 1985 Farrell and
Moreira backed
Purim's 'Humble People'.
Clarke himself played a major
role in Farrell's career. They had held their first mutual sessions on
February 2 and 3 of 1972 for Corea's
'Return to Forever' with
Moreira and
Purim.
Clarke and Ferrell would
visit on multiple occasions throughout the seventies backing various
enterprises such as Corea's. Along
the way
Clarke added bass to
Farrell's 'Moongerms' on November 21, 1972 and 'La Catedral y El Toro' in
1977. Come April 1980 Farrell would support
Clarke's 'Fuse One'. Farrell averaged about one album per year until his premature death in Los
Angeles on 10 January 1986 of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), age only 48
[obit].
Having issued sixteen albums as a leader or co-leader, one of those had been
'Benson & Farrell' in 1976 with guitarist,
George Benson, another of his more
important comrades, having participated in
Benson's 'Tell It Like It Is' in
1969, 'Pacific Fire' ('83) in 1975 and 'Good King Bad' in December 1975.
Among others with whom Farrell had recorded were the CTI All Stars ('72),
Brother Jack McDuff, Clark
Woodard and Brian Bromberg. References: 1,
2.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Discussion: 1,
2.
Further reading: Marc Myers (Farrell at flute).
Other profiles *.
Per 1960 below, Farrell shares sax with three others in
Ferguson's big band. Joe Farrell 1960 Composition: Slide Hampton Maynard Ferguson album: 'Newport Suite' Joe Farrell 1970 Composition: John McLaughlin Album: 'Joe Farrell Quartet' Joe Farrell 1971 Composition: John Scott Album: 'Outback' Joe Farrell 1973 From 'Moon Germs' Recorded 21 Nov 1972 Composition: Joe Farrell From 'Penny Arcade' Recorded Oct 1973 Composition: Joe Farrell Composition: Stevie Wonder Joe Farrell 1974 From 'Upon This Rock' Composition: Joe Farrell Composition: Joe Farrell Joe Farrell 1975 Album: 'Canned Funk' All comps Joe Farrell Joe Farrell 1978 Joe Farrell 1979 Music: Kurt Weill 1943 Lyrics: Ogden Nash Album: 'Skate Board Park' Joe Farrell 1980 Filmed live Trumpet: Randy Brecker Composition: Charles Mingus
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Born in 1931 in Boston,
Makanda Ken McIntyre
played double bass, drums, piano, and a lot of horns, especially alto sax.
After serving a couple years in the US Army McIntyre received his bachelor's
in music from the Boston Conservatory in 1958. He continued studies in
composition and flute to acquire his master's the next year. He recorded his
first album, playing flute and alto sax, on May 31 of 1960, his second in June
28:
'Stone Blues' [1,
2] and 'Looking Ahead'
[1,
2]. McIntyre released only eight more albums
during his career: 'Year of the Iron Sheep' recorded in New York on 11 June 1962, 'Way, Way Out'
in New York on 27 May of '63,
'Hindsight' in Copenhagen on 13 Jan 1974, 'Home' in New York on 23 June
1975, 'Open Horizon' [1,
2] in New
York on 19 Nov 1975, 'Introducing the
Vibrations' in New York on 30 Oct 1976, 'Chasing the Sun' in New York on 7
July 1978 and 'In the Wind' [1,
2,
3] in New Jersey on dates in '95 and '96.
McIntyre's
last album was released per the McIntyre website in 2000 by CAAMO Records: 'A New Beginning' [1,
2].
Backing up to the sixties, McIntyre had also supported 'Honi
Gordon Sings' in March of '62. The
reason McIntyre is credited with relatively few sessions for a career
stretching through several decades was his emphasis on education. He began teaching in public schools in
1961. Ten years later he founded the African American Music program at State
University of New York College (SUNY), teaching there for 24 years. He'd
meanwhile earned his doctorate in curriculum design from the University of
Massachusetts Amherst in 1975. As the eighties rolled into the nineties he
worked with
Charlie Haden and his Liberation Music
Orchestra ('The Montreal Tapes' and 'DreamKeeper'). The McIntyre website
Has him adding "Makanda" to his name sometime in the early nineties, having
been given a slip of paper by a stranger at a concert in Zimbabwe with that
name written on it, meaning "many skins" or "many heads". Among others on
whose recordings he can be found are Cecil
Taylor, Nat
Adderley,
Beaver Harris, Craig Harris
and Tom Harrell. Though McIntyre's was a limited recording career he was good
for above 350 compositions and 200 arrangements. He died on June 13 of 2001 at age
79 in Harlem [obit]
survived by his wife, Joy, and two sons.
References: 1,
2.
Sessions: Fitzgerald (w composers): main,
multiple versions,
personnel; Lord (leading 15 of 32).
Discos: 1,
2,
3.
Liner notes.
Reviews.
Select videography.
Lead sheets: 1,
2 (arrangements).
Facebook tribute.
Interviews: Bob Rusch 1988
(alt).
Biblio: 'Peace Thru Jazz' by Derek Styles (Cadence Jazz Books 2011).
See also: the Contemporary African American Music Organization (CAAMO) *;
the Makanda Project: 1,
2. Makanda Ken McIntyre 1960 Note: Issue date of 1960 for New Jazz NJ 8247 appears debatable among sources. 1960 is tentatively given per Fitzgerald and RYM although Discogs has 1961, perhaps due to an advertisement for its release in the 21 Jan 1961 issue of 'Cashbox' [see Wikipedia]. If that advertisement refers to its first release then the year that McIntyre first saw issue is probably 1961. Makanda Ken McIntyre 1962 Composition: McIntyre Album: 'Stone Blues' Note: Issue date of 1962 for New Jazz NJ 8259 appears debatable among sources. Fitzgerald hesitates to give a date. RYM lends 1960, Discogs 1961. 1962 is given per the New Jazz label discography at Both Sides Now [see Wikipedia].Makanda Ken McIntyre 1974 Makanda Ken McIntyre 1975 Album All compositions McIntyre Pianos: Kenny Drew Bass: Buster Williams Drums: Andrei Strobert Makanda Ken McIntyre 1977 From 'Introducing the Vibrations' All compositions McIntyre Makanda Ken McIntyre 1978 Album: 'Chasing the Sun' Bass: Hakim Jami Drums: Beaver Harris All compositions McIntyre Makanda Ken McIntyre 2000 Solo filmed live
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 Makanda Ken McIntyre Source: Roberto's Winds |
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Charles McPherson was born in
1939 in Joplin, Missouri, but raised in Detroit. He there played regularly
in clubs before moving to NYC in 1959, finding a spot in a very brief time
with
Charles Mingus, the major figure in his career
into the seventies. McPherson's initial recordings with
Mingus were on October 20, 1960. One
of those tracks,
'Vassarlean', got issued in 1960 on the various artists album, 'The Jazz
Life!'. 'M.D.M.' and 'Lock 'Em Up' from that session were released the next year on the LP,
'Mingus'. 'Bugs' and 'Reincarnation of a Lovebird No 2' aren't thought to
have been issued until 1988
on the
Mingus collection, 'Reincarnation of a Lovebird'.
Mingus' 1995 album,
'In a Soulful Mood', contained 'Reincarnation of a Lovebird No 1',
'Vassarlean' and 'Bugs', which we are by now. McPherson contributed to a
minimum of twenty
Mingus LPs, issued sooner or later,
to his last sessions with him in France in August of 1972 resulting in 'Live
in Chateauvallon, 1972' released in 1989. A reunion on January 19 of 1974
witnessed 'Mingus at Carnegie Hall'. January 18 of 1978 found him
participating in
Mingus' 'Something Like a Bird'. In 1961 McPherson recorded
'Newer Than New' with
Barry Harris, issued that year. Harris
was another important figure, he also contributing to
Harris' 'Bull's Eye' on June 4, 1968,
and touring to Japan in April of 1976 for 'Live in Tokyo', the latter in a
trio with
Sam Jones on bass. They had backed
Jones' 'Cello Again' on January 5
that year.
Harris participated in seven of
McPherson's LPs from his debut 'Bebop Revisited!' on November 20, 1964, to
'Today's Man' in 1973. In 1978 McPherson moved to San Diego.
He has toured internationally on a number of occasions, held numerous
teaching posts and appeared on more than fifty recordings by other
musicians such as Don Patterson and Rob Schneiderman. He is yet active as ever from his base of operations in the
fairest climate in the States, sailor city, San Diego. His next to last album,
'The Journey' [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6], was issued January 2015. His 24th and latest per this writing
was 'Love Walked In' released in 2016 w Bruce Barth (piano), Jeremy Brown
(bass) and Stephen Keogh on drums. References: 1,
2,
3.
Sessions: Fitzgerald
(alt); Lord (leading 30 of 103).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Select videography.
Facebook.
Interviews: George Varga 2005; NAMM 2008;
Alan Ray 2009;
George Harris 2016;
Jake Feinberg 2019;
various.
Awards.
Clinics.
Other profiles: 1,
2.
See also the San Diego Ballet *. Per 1976
below, McPherson is joined on the album,
'Live in Tokyo', by pianist, Barry Harris
(et al). Charles McPherson 1960 Composition: Charles Mingus: Album by Charles Mingus: 'Reincarnation of a Lovebird' Recorded 11 November 1960 NYC Issued 1988 Charles McPherson 1961 With the Barry Harris Quintet Composition: Barry Harris Album: 'Newer Than New' Composition: Charles Mingus Note: Issue of the above track is unidentified. No documentation is found that has Mingus recording 'Vasserlean' ('Weird Nightmare') on 11 Oct 1960. Unless the above is quite obscure it was more likely recorded per Tom Lord on 20 Oct 1960 toward issue on 'The Jazz Life!' (Candid CJM 8019). It was recorded 11 Nov 1960 per Discogs, mentioned as incorrect by Lord. Discogs, however, has Lord's date of 20 Oct 1960 issued on the 1990 Mingus compilation, 'Mysterious Blues', which Lord identifies as the same track although time registers differ at Discogs from 6:15 (CJM 8019) to 6:38 (CCD 79042). Charles McPherson 1964 Composition: Fats Navarro Album: 'Bebop Revisited!' Charles McPherson 1965 Composition: Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley Album w Pat Bowie Charles McPherson 1966 Composition: Ray Evans/Jay Livingston Album: 'The Quintet/Live!' Charles McPherson 1972 Composition: Elise Bretton/Sherman Edwards/Donald Meyer Album: 'Siku Ya Bibi' Charles McPherson 1976 From 'Live in Tokyo' Composition: Bud Powell Composition: Brooks Bowman Music: Jack Strachey 1935 Lyrics: Eric Maschwitz/Harry Link Charles McPherson 1990 Filmed live Charles McPherson 1994 Composition: McPherson Album: 'First Flight Out' Charles McPherson 2002 Composition: Rodgers/Hart Album: 'Live at the Cellar' Charles McPherson 2004 From 'But Beautiful' Composition: Allie Wrubel/Herbert Magidson Composition: Nicholas Brodszky/Sammy Cahn Charles McPherson 2005 Filmed live w the Bernie Senensky Trio Composition: Sonny Rollins
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 Charles McPherson Source: Roberto's Winds |
|
 Archie Shepp Photo: Associated Press Source: Ooyuz |
Born in 1937 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tenor saxophonist, Archie Shepp,
was raised in Philadelphia, PA. He was a drama major for four years at
Goddard College in Vermont before turning to a career in music. 1960 found
Shepp working at the Five Spot in NYC in 1960 with avant-garde pianist, Cecil
Taylor,
Dennis Charles (drums) and Buell Neidlinger (bass). Shepp's
debut recording session may have been (a duo) with Neidlinger some time in 1960 for
'Davis', issued on 'Marty's Garage' (2269) in 1983 on tenor saxophonist,
Marty Krystall's label, K2B2. However, per Lord's disco that might also have
been pulled from a later session on January 9, 1961. The Jazz Discography
Project (JDP at jazzdisco.org) omits that from its
Taylor discography, leading off with sessions on October 12 and 13 with
several takes of 'Air' and one of 'Lazy Afternoon'. 'Lazy Afternoon' and
'Air' (take 28) saw release in 1960 on
Taylor's 'The World of Cecil Taylor'. 'Air' (takes 9, 21 and 24) saw
issue on 'Air' in 1988. Titles gone down on January 9 and 10 of 1961 would
find issue on Taylor's 'Cell Walk
for Celeste' in 1988. (Per 'Davis' above, Lord's disco gives no take number.
JDP (jazzdisco.org)
lists takes 1 and 3 on the 9th, but no take 2. Perhaps 'Davis' above is
somehow take 2 with others out?) October 10 saw Shepp in
Taylor's ensemble for tracks 2, 4 and 6 of
Gil Evans's 'Into the Hot' released in
1962. Shepp's debut name album, 'Archie Shepp – Bill
Dixon Quartet', was also
Dixon's first as a leader released in 1962, recorded in October that year
w Don Moore (bass) Paul Cohen (drums). Shepp
joined the New York Contemporary Five with Don Cherry
at trumpet and John Tchicai on alto sax for 'Consequences' on October 23 of
'63. That was with Don Moore (bass) and JC Moses (drums). It was the same
personnel with Cherry out for a
second session on that date to result in Tchicai and Shepp's 'Rufus'. Shepp's threat was
clear by the time he appeared on three albums by
John Coltrane in 1965: 'Ascension',
'The Major Works of John Coltrane' and 'A Love Supreme'. He first visited Africa in July 1969,
recording at
the Pan African Festival in Algiers, Algeria. In 1971 Shepp began teaching
black music at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has also taught
African American studies at SUNY in Buffalo, New York. Shepp turned his
interests to Europe in the early eighties. He and Dutch pianist, Jasper van
't Hof, released 'Mama Rose' in 1982 and 'The Fifth of May' in 1987. In the
early nineties Shepp collaborated with Belgian pianist, Michel Herr, on the
film score to 'Just Friends' released in 1993. In June of '96 he performed with French trumpeter, Eric Le Lann,
in France, they recording 'Live in Paris'.
In 2002 Shepp and Hungarian saxophonist, Mihály Dresch, collaborated on 'Hungarian Bebop'
in Budapest. In 2004, together with Monette Berthomier, Shepp founded the Archieball record label in Paris.
Master tapes by Shepp were among those destroyed in the Universal studios
fire of 2008. Shepp had released a regular library of albums during his career, appearing on
above 100 of them as a leader or co-leader. Amidst others with whom he'd
collaborated were
Sunny Murray,
Sun Ra and the Sax Legends ('92). Among
Shepp's later sessions were with German
pianist, Joachim Kuhn, the latter featured on Shepp's 'Wo!man' in 2011, Shepp
featured on Kuhn's 'Voodoo Sense' in 2012. 'I Hear the Sound' went down
in 2013 with the Attica Blues Orchestra, which the NEA had heard as well,
presumably, when he was made a Jazz Master in 2016. References: 1,
2.
Sessions: JDP; Lord (leading 135 of 190).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
IMDb.
IA.
Facebook.
Interviews: Stewart Smith 2012;
Phil Freeman 2014;
NEA 2016.
Further reading: Michele Simms-Burton;
Robin Lynam;
Steve Smith.
Other profiles: 1,
2. Archie Shepp 1960 From Cecil Taylor's ' Air' Recorded 12/13 October 1960 Issued 1988 All comps Taylor Cecil Taylor album: 'Air' Issued 1988 Cecil Taylor album: 'Air' Issued 1988 End 'Air' Album Shepp on tracks 1 ('Air' Take 28) and 5 Recorded 12/13 October 1960 Archie Shepp 1964 Archie Shepp 1967 Archie Shepp 1969 Composition: Shepp Album: 'Blasé' Archie Shepp 1972 Archie Shepp 1973 Dr.King - The Peaceful Warrior Live in Ljubljana, Slovenia Composition: Cal Massey Archie Shepp 1975 Composition: Billy Strayhorn Album: 'Montreux One' Recorded 18 July 1975 Composition: Grachan Moncur III Album: 'A Sea of Faces' Recorded Aug 1975 Milan Archie Shepp 1976 Album with Max Roach Archie Shepp 1994 Filmed concert Archie Shepp 2001 Filmed live at the Chivas Jazz Festival Composition: Billie Holiday/Arthur Herzog Jr. 1939 Composition: Shepp Composition: Shepp Archie Shepp 2002 Album with Mihály Dresch Quartet Archie Shepp 2011 Filmed concert Piano: Chucho Valdes Archie Shepp 2015 Filmed live
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|
 Eddie Harris Source: Concert Database |
Tenor saxophonist,
Eddie Harris, was born in 1934
in Chicago. He was a student of Walter Dyett, famous for the numerous
musicians who passed through his music classes at the Phillips and DuSable
public high schools. Harris played piano and vibes in addition to sax when
he entered Roosevelt University, during which period he gigged with
Gene Ammons. Drafted into the US Army
after college, he served in a military band in Europe that included
Cedar Walton.
Walton would later support eight of
Harris' albums from 'Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway' in 1964 to 'How
Can You Live Like That?' in 1976. After his military tour
was up, Harris worked a bit in NYC before returning to Chicago where he
recorded his first album, 'Exodus to Jazz', in 1961 for issue that year. The
short version of 'Exodus', Harris' cover of the movie theme, is said to be the first jazz title to reach gold,
charting at #16 on Billboard's R&B. November of 1962 saw 'Bossa Nova' [1,
2,
3,
4,
5]
go down for issue in '63. Harris began performing on electric piano
and the amplified Varitone sax in the latter sixties. Notable in 1969 was
his live recording with pianist,
Les McCann, at the Montreuz Jazz
Festival in Switzerland in 1969, issued on 'Swiss Movement' that year.
'Second Movement' would arrive in 1971. During the early seventies he began experimenting with instruments, fitting
sax with a trumpet mouthpiece and trumpet with a reed mouthpiece. He also
experimented with the Guitorgan, first introduced by its inventor, Bob
Murrell, in 1967 in Chicago. Vox would soon release its own models.
Albums on which he used that instrument were 'Is It In' in December of 1973,
'I Need Some Money' in July of 1974 and 'The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t' in
1975. During the eighties Harris performed with the Horace Silver
Quintet, supporting Silver on five albums from 'Guides to Growing Up' in
1981 to 'Pencil Packin' Papa' in 1994. Notable in the nineties was 'The
Regulator' with Bazillus in 1991 in Zurich, issued in '92. Unfortunately, Harris also competes with Elvis Presley
for the worst album ever released. We know not what the worst albums ever
issued actually are. Names like
Lou Reed,
Kiss, Metallica and Duran Duran get
iterated on a quick search for such, but mentioned at Wikipedia and Allmusic
are Presley's 'Having Fun with
Elvis on Stage' per 1974 (banter rather than music) and Harris' comical
release of 'The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t' in '75 (banter rather than
music). Having toured the States and Europe extensively while releasing
above seventy albums, Harris died in Los Angeles in November 1996 of bone
cancer and kidney disease [obit]. His 'The Last Concert', recorded in Cologne,
Germany, was issued posthumously in 1997. References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6, Lord (leading 124 of 171 sessions).
IMDb.
Select videography.
Lyrics.
Archives: 1,
2.
Other profiles: 1,
2. Eddie Harris 1961 Composition: Ernest Gold Long version Album: 'Exodus to Jazz' Short version Eddie Harris 1962 Composition: Lalo Schifrin Album: 'Bossa Nova' Piano: Lalo Schiffrin Eddie Harris 1966 From 'The In Sound' Composition: Eddie Harris ('Love Theme from 'The Sandpiper'') Composition: Johnny Mandel/Paul Francis Webster Eddie Harris 1968 Composition: Eddie Harris Long version Album: 'The Electrifying Eddie Harris' Short version Eddie Harris 1969 From 'High Voltage' Recorded Oct 1968 & April 1969 Comps below by Harris End 'High Voltage' Montreux Jazz Festival 20 June 1969 Filmed with Les McCann Composition: Eddie Harris Album: 'Swiss Movement' Recorded 21 June 1969 Montreux Jazz Festival Eddie Harris 1975 From 'I Need Some Money' Recorded July & Dec 1974 Composition: Sara Harris Composition: Harris/Bradley Bobo/Durf/Ronald Muldrow Eddie Harris 1976 Recorded 1975 Los Angeles & Chicago Eddie Harris 1979 Album Solo tenor sax & piano All compositions Harris Eddie Harris 1983 Eddie Harris 1990 Recorded 27/28 October 1989 Aarburg, Switzerland
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Flautist and tenor saxophonist,
Charles Lloyd, was born in 1938 in
Memphis, Tennessee. He began sax at age nine, his best friend as a child the
trumpeter,
Booker Little. He received
musical training from pianist,
Phineas Newborn. Lloyd left for Los
Angeles in 1956 to study classical music at the University of Southern
California by day, to gig in nightclubs by night with some commanding names,
eventually to join the orchestra of
Gerald Wilson. In November of 1960 he recorded tracks with drummer, Chico Hamilton,
for 'Bye Bye Birdie-Irma La Douce'. 'Chico Hamilton Special', went down the
same month. He joined
Hamilton again for 'Drumfusion' on February 19, 1952, one track from
which would see issue on 'Nirvana' in 1968. Wikipedia shows Lloyd supporting
Hamilton on five more LPs to 'Chic Chic Chico' in early 1965. Lloyd
surfaced on
Cannonball Adderley's 'Fiddler on the
Roof' and 'Live!' in 1964. A much later reunion saw 'Radio Nights' in 1991.
Lloyd recorded his first album as a leader, 'Discover', in May of 1964. That
was with a crew of
Don Friedman (piano),
Richard Davis (bass) and JC
Moses (drums). In 1967 Lloyd was uniquely invited to the
Soviet Union by Soviet festival officials. He there recorded 'Charles Lloyd
in the Soviet Union', released in 1970. Lloyd belonged to Celebration, a band
fronted by Mike Love of the
Beach Boys, in 1978-79, meaning his participation in 'Almost Summer',
'Celebration' and 'Disco Celbration'. The early eighties saw Lloyd touring
in Europe with genetically
disabled pianist, Michel Petrucciani, that to result in 'Mpntreux '82' in
Switzerland in July of '82 and 'A Night in Copenhagen' in Denmark in July of
'83. Lloyd left behind six of his above forty albums in the nineties, one of
them 'The Call' in 1993 with pianist,
Bobo Stenson. Another notable concert
in Europe was 'Athens Concert' in June of 2010 at the the Herodion Theater with vocalist, Maria Farantouri.
Lloyd was made anNEA Jazz Master in 2015, the same year he issued
'Wild Man Dance' and accepted an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music.
In 2016 'I Long to See You' saw issue with the Marvels. Come 'Passin' Thru'
in 2017 followed by 'Vanished Gardens' w the Marvels and Lucinda Williams.
Lloyd yet actively tours to this date. Indeed,
he remains so relevant at YouTube that one could think he began his career sometime in the
21st century. References: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Sessions: J-Disc (w comps by Lloyd),
JDP, Lord (leading 67 of 93).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Interviews: Fred Jung 1997,
Josef Woodard 2008,
James Newton 3
(pdf),
NEA 2015,
Joe Cole 2015. Further reading:
Dave Cantor,
Will Layman,
Matt Leskovic,
Ted Panken.
Other profiles: 1,
2,
3,
4. Charles Lloyd 1961 'Chico Hamilton Special' Charles Lloyd 1962 From 'Drumfusion' Chico Hamilton LP All comps by Lloyd Charles Lloyd 1963 Composition: Lloyd Chico Hamilton LP: 'Passin' Thru' Charles Lloyd 1964 Music: Henri Mancini 1961 Lyrics: Johnny Mercer Album: 'Discovery!' LP by Cannonball Adderley Charles Lloyd 1966 Composition: Lloyd Album: 'Dream Weaver' Recorded 20 March 1966 Piano: Keith Jarrett Bass: Cecil McBee Drums: Jack DeJohnette Charles Lloyd 1967 Composition: Lloyd 'Sunrise' & 'Sunset' Album: 'Forest Flower' Recorded 8 Sep 1966 Piano: Keith Jarrett Bass: Cecil McBee Drums: Jack DeJohnette Filmed live Charles Lloyd 1968 Filmed live Charles Lloyd 1972 Album Charles Lloyd 2001 Piano: Geri Allen Guitar: John Abercrombie Bass: Marc Johnson Drums: Billy Hart Charles Lloyd 2008 Filmed concert Charles Lloyd 2010 Filmed concert Filmed concert Composition: Lloyd Album: 'Mirror' Recorded Dec 2009 Charles Lloyd 2013 Filmed live Charles Lloyd 2014 Filmed live Composition: Lloyd
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 Charles Lloyd Source: PBS |
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Born in 1939 in Bronx,
Steve Marcus,
began with clarinet as a youth, picking up saxophone at age fifteen. He was
a student at Berklee College of Music where he participated in his initial three issued recordings in '60, '61 and '62 for volumes V, VI and VII of
'Jazz in the Classroom',
the first released in 1961. Graduating from Berklee in 1962, he was hired by
Stan Kenton. who took him across the
States to Hollywood where 'Artistry in Bossa Nova' went down in April of
1963. June of '63 found Marcus and
Kenton recording 'The Best of Brant
Inn' in Burlington, Ontario, on June 12, 1963. It was the Newport Jazz
Festival on July 4. Come 'Jean Turner' back in Hollywood in September of
'63. It was 'Kenton in England' at Free Trade Hall in Manchester on November
23.
Kenton is thought to have dissolved
that band that year, after which Marcus is a mystery until September of
1966, supporting
Gary Burton and Friends on
'Tennessee Fire'. Moving onward to
Woody Herman, he is thought to
have laid his first tracks with the latter on March 23 of 1967 for 'The
Duck', 'Boopsie' and 'Hallelujah Time'. It was
Herman's 'East and West' in
March of '67. Marcus recorded his debut
LP, 'Tomorrow Never Knows' on October 31, 1967. That was with a crew of Mike
Nock (piano), Larry Coryell
(guitar), Chris Hills (bass) and
Bob Moses (drums). 'Count's Rock
Band' followed in May of 1968 with the same personnel, adding Chris Swanson
as an arranger and percussionist. Marcus joined
Coryell in latter '68 for 'Basics'
('76). Several albums later, including 'Barefoot Boy', his last titles with
Coryell are thought to have been
with the Foreplay Quartet at Central Park, NYC, on June 30 of '73 for
'Foreplay', 'Joyride', et al. They reunited in Cotati, CA, in December of
2000 for 'Reunion'. In 1975 Marcus moved beyond jazz fusion with a step
into the past via the great drummer and bandleader, Buddy Rich,
remaining with Rich's orchestra
through about twenty albums until the latter's death in 1987
when Marcus assumed leadership and renamed the orchestra Buddy's Buddies.
His initial sessions with Rich had
been in April and May of '75 for 'Big Band Machine'. His last was at
Grendals Lair in Philadelphia, PA, on December 8, 1986, for what would get
issued as 'Buddy Rich Big Band: Live' in 1997. Along the way arrived 'Mr.
Drums: Buddy Rich & His Band Live on King Street' [1,
2],
recorded 3 April 1985 in San Francisco, that Rich's last studio issue prior
to his death. In 1994 Marcus participated
in both volumes of drummer, Neil Peart's, 'Burning for Buddy', those
featuring various jazz and rock drummers. Together
with touring with Buddy's Buddies and other side work, Marcus issued eleven albums as a leader.
He had begun working on his last, 'Project', in 2003, that issued
posthumously in 2007. Marcus died in his sleep on September 25, 2005, at his
home in
New Hope, PA [obit]. Among others with whom he had recorded were
Mel Tormé,
Teresa Brewer, Paolo Nonnis, Bob
Thiele, Brian Trainor and Rick Stepton. References: 1,
2.
Discos: 1,
2,
3, Lord (leading 15 of 88 sessions). Facbook
tribute. Steve Marcus 1967 Composition: Bob Dylan Album by Gary Burton: 'Tennessee Firebird' Recorded 19-21 Sep 1966 Steve Marcus 1968 From 'Tomorrow Never Knows' Composition: Gary Burton Composition: Donovan Leitch Composition: Lennon/McCartney Steve Marcus 1970 Recorded 11 Sep 1970 Tokyo Steve Marcus 1971 Composition: Larry Coryell Album by Larry Coryell: 'Barefoot Boy' Steve Marcus 1985 Filmed in San Francisco Buddy Rich Big Band Composition: Bill Reddie Steve Marcus 1993 Album: 'Smile' Title track music by Charlie Chaplin Composition: Charlie Parker Composition: Robert Mellin/Guy Wood
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 Steve Marcus Source: Discogs |
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Born in 1936 in frosty Buffalo, New York, big band saxophonist,
Don Menza,
is the father of Megadeth
drummer, Nick Menza. He began training on tenor at age thirteen. The hep days of the big band were
in the forties. About the time rock n roll arrived jazz orchestras began
their decline in popularity. The big band, however, has never been in danger
of disappearing, Menza one of the various figures to give reason why. We
pick up Menza when he was in the band of 7th Army with such as
Don Ellis while they were stationed
in Germany. Lord's disco has him recording an obscure title fn saxophonist,
Hans Koller's, Septett in Frankfurt on
June 7 of 1957: 'Minor Conversation'. That is found on an album by various,
'Now's the Time Vol 2', as of 2012. Released from the military in 1958, he
put away his sax to explore a normal life, but ended up joining the Al
Belletto Sextet in 1960. That July that band recorded a string of titles in
Cincinnati, Ohio, for King (LP 716) like 'Basically Blues', 'Li'l Darlin',
'When I Fall in Love', et al. Those saw issue that year on 'The Big Sound'.
Menza joined
Maynard Ferguson's orchestra
in 1960, his first
sessions in June of 1961 for 'Straightaway Jazz Themes'. Menza worked with
Ferguson, also arranging,
through several sessions' worth of albums into 1962. He then joined
Stan Kenton's outfit in time for 'Adventures In Time'
in September of 1962. Menza's first session as a leader was in Buffalo, New
York, in 1963 for Agena (S 7966), the obscure Parts 1 and 2 of 'Spanish
Boots'. Menza lived in Germany from '64 to '68, his first session there in
Munich in July of '65 in the Max Greger Orchester for 'Maximum'. He recorded
his debut LP as a leader in Munich on December 22 of 1965 for the Saba
label: 'Morning Song'. His last sessions in Europe before returning to the
States were for Benny Bailey's 'The Balkan in My Soul' and 'Eugen Cicero
Quintett' in 1968. Menza arrived back in the States to join drummer, Buddy Rich,
his next sessions on July 7, 1968, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for
'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy'. Living in California, he did the steep trip over the
Clark Mountain Range between Los Angeles and Las Vegas on multiple occasions
for the next two or three years. Among the more important figures in Menza's
career was drummer,
Louie Bellson, whose Big Band
he joined in time for 'Louie Rides Again!' in 1974. Some fifteen albums
later it was 'Airmail Special' in February of 1990. Along a career of heavy
touring Menza has issued no less than twenty albums as a leader or co-leader. His second issue was 'First
Flight' in 1977 with
Frank Rosolino. '78 saw 'Bones
Blues', '79 'Horn of Plenty', '81 'Burnin', '82 'Hip Pocket'. On February 14
of 1983 he recorded
tracks at a restaurant in Finland which would end up on the 2008
release of 'Very Live at Groovy'. Four albums later his first in the new
millennium was back in Las Vegas in April of 2001 for 'Live at Capozzoli's'.
Menza had intended to retire a few albums later upon putting down 'Jack Rabbitt'
and 'My Heart Sings' in the summer of 2003. Menza had been becoming disappointed with the
music industry, particularly the commercialism of the pop-rock sector in which music played second
hand to the show, be it stage, video, etc.. Still, came 'Menza Lines' on
October 1 of 2004 at the Los Angeles
Sheridan Hotel for release in 2005. That was followed by 'Voyage' in 2007.
Three albums later arrived his most recent, 'Sonny Daze', in 2017. With homes in both Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the latter has served as one
of Menza's venues for several decades. Among the host of others Menza has
supported along his path were Jeff Sturges, John Klemmer,
Moacir Santos, Della Reese,
Jimmy Witherspoon,
Cannonball Adderley, the
Manhattan Transfer, Gabe Baltazar,
Tito Puente and
Alphonse Mouzon.
References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Discos: 1,
2,
3.
Interviews: Les Tomkins 1968-88,
various 1977/2014,
NAMM 2018,
NYU Steinhardt 2018.
Transcriptions: 'Groovin' Hard'.
Further reading: Tony Zambito. Per 1961 below, Menza
is lead tenor though indistinguishable. The featured sax player is thought
to be Lenny Morgan on alto. Don Menza 1961 Maynard Ferguson big band LP: 'Straightaway' Lead trumpet of 4: Fergusen All comps by Ferguson Don Menza 1966 From 'Morning Song' Comps below by Menza Don Menza 1970 Composition: Menza With Buddy Rich Don Menza 1977 From 'First Flight' Comps below by Menza Don Menza 1981 From 'Burnin'' Don Menza Big Band Comps below by Menza Don Menza 1987 Filmed live Don Menza 1991 Filmed live Composition: Menza Arrangement: Menza Don Menza 1992 Filmed in Burghausen Composition: Menza Don Menza 2007 From 'Voyage' All arrangements: Menza Composition: Menza Composition: Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg Composition: Menza Composition: Kenny Barron Don Menza 2008 Filmed live
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 Don Menza Source: Jake Feinberg Show |
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 Harold Vick Source: Wikipedia |
Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in 1936,
saxophonist/flautist,
Harold Vick,
began training on clarinet at age thirteen. Three years later he took up
tenor sax. His first professional employment of note was with
Brother Jack McDuff in 1960,
he found on
McDuff's 'Goodnight, It's Time
to Go' in 1961.
McDuff's band was
the main activity of Vick's early career with ten more albums ensuing to as
late as 'The Fourth Dimension' issued in 1974. Lord's disco has
McDuff and Vick reuniting as
late as 1979/80 for
Charles Earland's 'Coming to
You Live'. Vick issued his first LP, 'Steppin' Out!' [1,
2,
3,
4,
5], in 1963 with a crew of
Blue Mitchell (trumpet),
Big John Patton (organ), Grant Green
(guitar) and Ben Dixon (drums). The early seventies saw Vick in Compost,
that ensemble issuing 'Take Off Your Body' in 1972 and 'Life Is Round' in
1973. Come 'Don't Look Back' [1,
2,
3]
in 1974 on Strata-East, reissued in 2018 by Pure Pleasure. Vick's eighth and last recorded album as a leader was in 1977: 'After
the Dance'. He died a decade later in his home in Manhattan on November 13,
1987, of heart attack, only 51 years of age. Lord's disco estimates he
recorded 'Where You Lay Your Head' ('93)that year with Bill Cosby (the
comedian) at percussion. His final titles were for vocalist,
Abbey Lincoln, on November 6
and 7 only a week before his death on 13 November '87: Volumes 1 and 2 of 'Abbey Sings Billie'.
Among the numerous on whose recordings Vick can be found are Johnny Hammond, Walter Bishop Jr,
Les McCann, Horace Silver,
Ralph MacDonald,
Terumasa Hino and
Eric Gale.
References: 1,
2,
3.
Sessions: JDP; Lord (leading 16 of 92).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
IMDb. Harold Vick 1961 From 'Goodnight, It's Time to Go' Tenor sax: Harold Vick Organ: Jack McDuff Guitar: Grant Green Drums: Joe Dukes Composition: Calvin Carter/James Hudson Composition: Jack McDuff Harold Vick 1963 From 'Steppin' Out!' All comps by Vick except as noted Composition: David Raksin/Johnny Mercer 1944 Harold Vick 1967 Composition: Kenny Graham Album: 'The Caribbean Suite' Harold Vick 1968 Album: 'Watch What Happens' Harold Vick 1974 From 'Commitment' Recorded 1-2 May 1967 NYC Composition: Vick Composition: Jimmy Heath End 'Commitment' Album All compositions Vick Harold Vick 1976 Filmed with Shirley Scott Composition: Vick Harold Vick 1977 From 'After the Dance' Composition: Marvin Gaye Composition: Ralph MacDonald
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 Paul Winter Source: Paul Winter |
Born in Altoona, PA, in 1939,
saxophonist,
Paul Winter, graduated from high school in 1957, having studied sax, clarinet and piano
by that time. He had formed his first band in 1953, the Silver Liners, their
first gigs at the Altoona YMCA in '55. Upon graduation Winter spent the
summer with the Ringling Brothers Circus Band. Winter is confused in few
sources with the author by the same name per the obscure 'A Winter's Tale:
Songs to Make You Thimk' with
Charlie Byrd in 1957. (This
article by the 'Detroit Free Press' indicates that this
Winter bears no relevance. Winter has also been confused with the violinist
of the same name per
Big Maybelle in 1959.) Winter played with a few more
bands until forming a sextet in 1961 that won the Intercollegiate Jazz
Festival that year, judges being trumpeter, Dizzy
Gillespie, and producer, John Hammond. That gained him a contract with
Columbia Records, he to release his first vinyl, 'The Paul Winter Sextet', that
year ('61) in December (Columbia 37228) [RateYourMusic]. That was a set of bebop
titles like 'Blue Evil',
'The Hustling Song', et al. December of 1961 saw Winter recording 'Jazz
premiere: Washington' in Washington DC and Chicago. In 1962 Winter was sent by the
State Department on a six-month tour to Latin America as a cultural
ambassador, delivering 160 concerts in 23 countries. 'Jazz Meets the Bossa Nova'
resulted, recorded in Rio de Janeiro and New York in 1962. That initiated an
exploration of various musical cultures that would figure large in Winter's
work. Upon Winter's return he played for Jackie Kennedy at the White House
in November of '62, said to be the first jazz performance at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue. That would get combined with 'Jazz premiere:
Washington' and later titles in 1963 on a CD set of two called 'Count Me In'
in 2012. Winter put
together the Winter Consort [1,
2, members] in 1967, which first recording was with
Peter, Paul and Mary that
year on 'The House Song'. The Consort's initial LP was 'The Winter Consort'
issued the next year by A&M. Winter's return to Brazil in the mid sixties
yielded the LP, 'Rio' in 1965. His experimentation with the sounds of
wildlife began in 1975 with a Greenpeace anti-whaling expedition off the
coast of Vancouver Island, studying the effects of saxophone and other
instruments, such as a Serge synthesizer, on whales. In 1977 Winter's
Consort performed at the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter. 'Common
Ground' was issued the next year, featuring whale, wolf and eagle.
'Callings', featuring sea creatures, was issued in 1980 on Winter's newly founded
label, Living Music Records, the same year his Consort acquired residency at
NYC’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine where annual summer [*] and winter
[1,
2,
3]
solstices [*]
would be celebrated in concert [*] for decades to come to the present day.
Winter's 'Missa Gaia' ['Earth Mass': 1,
2,
3] premiered in
1981 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC. 1984 saw the first of
thirteen tours to Russia. Whales were featured again on the 1987 release of
'Whales Alive'. 'Earth: Voices of a Planet' was released in 1990. Four years
later 'Spanish Angel', recorded in Spain, won a Grammy. A second Grammy in
'95 was won for 'Prayer for the Wild Things'. 'Celtic Solstice' earned a
Grammy in 2000, 'Silver Solstice' in 2006, 'Crestone' in 2008, 'Miho:
Journey to the Mountain' in 2011. Having released above fifty albums, Winter's latest was 'Earth Music' in
2011, followed by 'Count Me In', a collection of recordings made by his
early sextet in '62 and '63. Others on whose recordings Winter can be found
are saxophonist,
Lou Donaldson ('Sophisticated Lou'
'72), and Brazilian guitarist, Oscar Castro-Neves ('Oscar!).
References: 1,
2,
3.
Chronology.
Discos: Paul Winter: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7, Lord (leading 63 sessions);
Paul Winter Consort *;
Paul Winter Sextet *.
Reviews.
Facebook.
Workshops.
Further reading: Terry Breen;
Jim Jerome. Paul Winter 1957 Recital Album: 'A Winter's Tale' Vocals: Winter Piano/harpsichord/bongos: Eddie Dimond Guitar: Charlie Byrd All compositions Winter Paul Winter 1962 From 'Jazz Meets the Bossa Nova' Composition: Ronaldo Bôscoli/Roberto Menescal Composition: Carlos Lyra ('Cançao dos Olhos Tristes') Composition: Tito Madi Paul Winter 1963 Television broadcast Paul Winter 1964 From 'Jazz Meets the Folk Song' Recorded 5 Dec 1963 NYC Composition: Cecil McBee Composition: Winter Paul Winter 1972 Title track composed by Ralph Towner Paul Winter 1978 Composition: Winter Composition: Winter Paul Winter 1985 Composition: Glen Velez/Paul Halley/Winter Album: 'Canyon' Paul Winter 1987 From 'Whales Alive' Composition: Jim Scott/Winter Paul Winter 1999 From 'Celtic Solstice' Composition: Davy Spillane/Paul Halley/Winter Composition: Davy Spillane/Paul Halley/Winter
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Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1936,
avant-garde saxophonist,
Albert Ayler,
was elder brother to trumpeter, Donald Ayler [1,
2,
3], who joined Albert on numerous
recordings. Albert played sax and oboe as a
child with his father who played sax and violin. He began performing with
Little Walter in 1952. After high
school Ayler joined the US Army in 1958, switching from alto to tenor sax.
What is possibly his first recording session took place for the Revenant
label (RVN 213) in 1960 in Orleans, France, while in the service, 'Tenderly'
and 'Leap Frog' credited to the US Army 76th AG Band. Like many of Ayler's
early recordings, those went unissued, not appearing until 2004 as the bonus
and 10th disc to a box set of CDs titled 'Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued
Recordings (1962–70)'. Upon release from military service Ayler visited Los
Angeles and Cleveland briefly before traveling to Sweden in 1962. He there
performed in groups in radio and made recordings with Cecil
Taylor that year. Those weren't released but were compiled on the
above-mentioned 'Holy Ghost' in 2004. In October of '62 Ayler recorded some
tracks with his trio of Torbjorn Hultcrantz (bass) and Sune Spangberg
(drums), the first issue of which was 'Something Different!!!!!!' in 1963.
That got reissued as 'The First Recordings Vol 1' in 1969. The earliest date
found for 'The First Recordings Vol 2' is 1990, with a prior test pressing
of perhaps a total of ten on which 'Moanin'' wasn't included. In January of
1963 Ayler recorded tracks in Copenhagen that would end up on his first
album release in 1964: 'My Name Is Albert Ayler'. He was back in the States
in NYC by 1964, his recordings that year to surface on eight future albums.
The first to be recorded was 'Witches & Devils' in February if not March.
The first to be released was 'New York Eye and Ear Control' in 1965. For as
brief a career as Ayler's was it was highly productive. Considering
recordings alone, he released well above twenty albums between 1962 and
1971. The problem was that the two in '71, 'Nuits de la Fondation Maeght'
and 'The Last Album', were posthumous. 'The Last Album' consisted of tracks
from his last studio sessions in August of 1969, tracks from which had
already been released in '69 on 'Music Is the Healing Force of the
Universe'. Ayler's final recorded performance was in July 1970 at the
Festival de la Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence, France. Tracks from
that were issued in 1971 on 'Nuits de la Fondation Maeght', that to include
two volumes of four tracks each. Ayler's was a miserable death of
psychological desperation on 25 November 1970 during the course of which he
smashed his saxophone over his television set, Mary Maria Parks, his
intimate and musical associate, present. He then boarded a ferry for Liberty
Island (Statue of Liberty), from which he is presumed to have jumped
overboard in transit. His body was discovered twenty days later in the East
River. Ayler's were among master tapes lost to the 2008 Universal Studios
fire
in Hollywood. References: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Sessions: J-Disc (w comps by Ayler);
JDP;
Lord (leading 51);
Patrick Regan.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
IA.
MP3 audios.
Reviews: concerts; recordings:
Forced Exposure;
various.
Lead sheets.
Interviews.
Documentaries: 'My Name Is Albert Ayler' directed by
Kasper Collin 2007 [IMDb]; related
(free jazz):
'Fire Music' directed by Tom Surgal 2018:
1,
2,
3,
4.
Bibliography. Further reading:
Donald Clarke;
Ethan Iverson;
Mac Randall;
Mark Richardson;
Jon Rogers;
various;
Kevin Whitehead.
Per below, recording dates
toward later compilations are mixed with
release dates to keep the list to Ayler's time period. Albert Ayler 1964 From 'My Name Is Albert Ayler' Recorded 14 Jan '63 Copenhagen, Denmark Composition: Charlie Parker 1945 Music: Gershwin 1934 Lyrics: DuBose Heyward For the opera 'Porgy and Bess' End 'My Name Is Albert Ayler' Recorded September 1964 Not released until 2002 Recorded September 1964 Not released until 1975 Composition: Ayler Albert Ayler 1965 Album: 'Spirits Rejoice' Recorded 23 Sep 1965 Judson Hall NYC All comps by Ayler Album Recorded 10 July 1964 NYC Variety Arts Recording Studio All comps by Ayler Albert Ayler 1966 Recorded 1 May 1966 NYC Not released until 1982: * All comps by Ayler See also * Albert Ayler 1967 From 'Holy Ghost' Disc 6 Recorded July 1967 Issued 2004 on Revenant RVN 213: Composition: Donald Ayler Composition: Donald Ayler Composition: Albert Ayler Albert Ayler 1968 Recorded August 1968 From 'Holy Ghost' Disc 6 (above) Issued 2004 Albert Ayler 1969 Vocal: Mary Maria Parks Composition: Park (Albert's girlfriend) Album: 'Music is the Healing Force' Recorded August 1969 Albert Ayler 1971 Guitar: Henry Vestine Composition: Improvisation Credited: Mary Maria Parks/Henry Vestine Album: 'The Last Album' Recorded August 1969 Posthumous release
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 Albert Ayler Source: Jazz da Gama |
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Born in Lima, Ohio, in 1937, tenor saxophonist,
Joe Henderson,
attended Wayne State University upon graduation from high school where he
had begun playing sax and composing. He began gigging at clubs in Detroit,
yet a teenager. He recorded variously at such clubs between '58 and '60 but
none were issued and very little is known about most. Lovell shows a date as
early as 9 Sep 1958 in the basement of alto saxophonist, Joe Brazil, for
unreleased titles like Charlie Parker's 'Now's the Time' and Dizzy
Gillespie's 'Woody 'n You'. Henderson spent '60 to '62 in
the Army, touring internationally in a military band. Henderson's debut
recording session with trumpeter,
Kenny Dorham, on January 15 of '63 wasn't issued until 2009 as
'The Flamboyan, Queens, NY, 1963'. His first tracks to
see sunshine were recorded in April of 1963: 'Sao Paolo', 'Straight Ahead', 'Una Mas' and 'If Ever I Would Leave
You', those on Dorham's LP, 'Una Mas'. Those were followed the next month by several tracks with guitarist,
Grant Green. Five of six were issued: 'Am I Blue', 'Take These Chains From
My Heart', 'Sweet Slumber', 'I Wanna Be Loved' and 'For All We Know'. Like
those with
Dorham and
Green, his debut LP was also with Blue Note
on June 3 of 1963 for 'Page One'. Joining him on that were
Kenny Dorham (trumpet),
McCoy Tyner (piano), Butch
Warren (bass) and
Pete La Roca (drums). Henderson
would issue 31 albums to 'Porgy and Bess' gone down in May of '97. An
account of Henderson's career requires mention of
Freddie Hubbard if no one else.
They are thought to have held their first mutual session for
Andrew Hill's 'One for One' on
February 10 of 1965. Following on the 19th was
Hubbard's 'Blue Spirits'. Eight
Hubbard albums followed to 'A
Little Night Music' in November of 1981 at the Keystone Korner in San
Francisco. Hubbard participated
in Henderson's 'Live at the Keystone Korner' in 1978, issued in 2015. He
also contributed to Henderson's 'Big Band' in 1992, that issued in '97. They
had also backed other operations like
Duke Pearson's 'Sweet Honey Bee' in
December of '66,
Charles Earland's 'Leaving
This Planet' in December of '73, Chaka Khan's 'Echoes of an Era' issued in
1982, 'Jazz Session' on
Van Morrison's 'I Can't Go On... But
I'll Go On' in 1984 and 'One Night with Blue Note' issued in 1985. Henderson
had also crossed genres back in 1972 when he performed for a brief time w
the brass rock band,
Blood Sweat & Tears. Another
big name with whom Henderson held numerous sessions was keyboardist,
Chick Corea. Lovell has them
in session together as early as 27 July 1967 with
Roy Haynes on drums for unknown
titles at the Five Spot in NYC. Twelve years later in '79 they backed
Ron Carter (bass) for 'Parade'. Come
dates in Aug and Dec of 1979 toward Henderson's 'Relaxin' at Camarillo' in
'81. Come Henderson's 'Mirror, Mirror' in Jan of 1980, that supported by
Carter and
Billy Higgins (drums).
Henderson backed
Corea on dates in 1981 in
NYC and Europe. They both supported drummer,
Lenny White's, 'Echoes of
an Era' released in '82. 'The Griffith Park Collection' also saw record
shelves in '82, a joint release between Henderson,
Corea,
Hubbard,
White and bass guitarist,
Stanley Clarke. The
second volume of that went down on 3 April 1982 for release the next year.
Hubbard was out on titles gone
down on 7 April toward Vol 2 of 'Echoes of an Era' w vocals by
Nancy Wilson. Henderson and
Corea supported bassist,
Dave Friesen's, 'Amber Skies' in April of '83. Lovell has
Corea and Henderson
reuniting on 24 and 25 June of 1996 toward the latter's 'Big Band'. Three
years later in 1999 Henderson was named a Jazz Master by the NEA. Henderson
died of heart failure upon emphysema on June 30, 2001 [obit]. He had recorded
prolifically at 269 sessions, among the numerous others with whom he laid
tracks being Luis Gasca, Nat
Adderley and the
Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. Among Henderson's last collaborations were in
1998 for Keiko Lee's 'If It's Love' and Terence Blanchard's 'Jazz in Film'.
References: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Sessions: JDP; Lord:
Lovell-Fitzgerald w composing credits:
main,
alpha,
personnel.
Discos: 1,
2,
3.
Reviews.
Transcriptions: 1,
2.
Analysis: Arthur White.
Discussion: 1,
2.
Further reading: Jazz Profiles;
Graham Reid.
Per 1958 below, 'Sweet Georgia Brown' is from a set of four
privately recorded in the home of alto saxophonist, Joe Brazil, in September
with
John Coltrane. The other tracks were:
'Now's the Time', 'Woody 'n You' and 'Paul's Pal'. Joe Henderson 1958 Private recording Issue unknown Composition: Maceo Pinkard Kenneth Casey Ben Bernie Note: Above track was taped in Detroit in the basement of alto saxophonist, Joe Brazil. Lovell gives a date of 9 Sep. Losin prefers 25 Sep. Brazil is out on the above track w John Coltrane and Henderson at tenor, Hugh Lawson (piano), Ernie Farrow (bass) and Roy Brooks (drums). Sessionographies also show Sylvester Sonny Red Kyner on alto sax during that session, not omitted on any of four tracks. Joe Henderson 1963 Album Trumpet: Kenny Dorham Piano: McCoy Tyner Bass: Butch Warren Drums: Pete La Roca Joe Henderson 1964 Album Piano: McCoy Tyner Bass: Bob Cranshaw Drums: Elvin Jones Album Trumpet: Kenny Dorham Piano: McCoy Tyner Bass: Richard Davis Drums: Elvin Jones Joe Henderson 1968 Album Piano: Wynton Kelly Bass: Paul Chambers Drums: Jimmy Cobb Joe Henderson 1971 Album Joe Henderson 1972 Album: 'Black Is The Color' All comps by Henderson Joe Henderson 1973 Album All comps by Henderson Album Recorded 4 Aug 1971 Piano: Hideo Ichikawa Bass: Kunimitsu Inaba Drums: Motohiko Hino Joe Henderson 1976 Album Joe Henderson 1982 Filmed concert Bass: Stanley Clarke Drums: Lenny White Piano: Chick Corea Joe Henderson 1993 Filmed live Bass: Dave Holland Drums: Al Foster Composition: Victor Young 1944 For the Paramount film 'The Uninvited' Joe Henderson 1994 Filmed concert Bass: George März Drums: Al Foster Piano: Bheki Mseleku Joe Henderson 1995 Album Note: 'Double Rainbow', recorded in Sep and Nov of 1994, consists of rearrangements by Henderson of twelve compositions by Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim.
|
 Joe Henderson Source: Ticket Fly/Dazzle Jazz |
|
 Prince Lasha Source: Undercover Black Man |
Born in Fort Worth, TX, in 1929, clarinetist/alto
saxophonist/flautist,
Prince Lasha
(pronounced lashay), was playing horn in high school. He performed in Texas until thinking Los
Angeles the place to be in 1954. He there involved himself with the newly
developing free jazz movement. His first appearance on vinyl is thought to
have been his own album recorded on November 21 of 1962: 'The Cry!' ('63). He
recorded that with
Sonny Simmons, among the more important of Lasha's
musical associates into the eighties. 'The Cry!' was followed by 'It Is Revealed'
in May of 1963. Sometime in 1965 Lasha squared away 'Inside Story'
[1,
2]
in NYC w
Herbie Hancock
(piano),
Cecil McBee (bass) and Jimmy Lovelace (drums). October of '65 found him recording 'Floater' with the The
Jazz Composer's Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany, for NDR (NordDeutscher
Rundfunk) Workshop #41, that issued on an obscure NDR 629.851. Lasha recorded 'Insight' in January of 1966 while
living in London. Returning to the States in 1967, he and
Simmons formed the Firebirds
that year, releasing
'Firebirds' the next year. Lasha issued about eleven albums including the
Firebirds before he up
and disappeared into the real estate business after the Firebirds album, 'And Now Music', in 1983. He suddenly bobbed up
from out of the deep twenty years later with 'The Mystery of Prince Lasha'
on May 5 of 2005 before dying in Oakland,
CA, on December 12 of 2008. Others on whose recordings Lasha can be found
are
Eric Dolphy, the
Elvin Jones-Jimmy Garrison
Sextet ('Illumination' '67), the Bossa Tres, Michael White,
Gene Ammons and Dawan Muhammad.
References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Discos: 1,
2,
3, Loed (leading 13 of 21 sessions).
IA. Per 1975 below, the full title of the album is 'Firebirds Live
at Berkeley Jazz Festival Vol II'. Prince Lasha 1963 Album: 'The Cry!' Recorded 21 Nov 1962 Los Angeles All compositions: Lasha/Sonny Simmons Composition: Lasha/Sonny Simmons Album by Eric Dolphy: 'Conversations' Recorded 3 July 3 1963 NYC Prince Lasha 1966 Composition: Lasha Album: 'Insight' Prince Lasha 1967 From 'Firebirds' All compositions: Lasha/Sonny Simmons Prince Lasha 1975 Album: 'Firebirds Live . . . Vol II' Issued as 'Search for Tomorrow' 1982 Prince Lasha 1981 Album: 'Inside Story' All compositions: Lasha Prince Lasha 1987 Filmed with the Woody Shaw Quintet
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Born in 1934 in Florence, South Carolina,
Houston Person,
played piano until switching to sax at age seventeen toward making his name
in soul jazz. He studied at South
Carolina State College before joining the Air Force, serving wth
Don Ellis,
Eddie Harris,
Cedar Walton and
Leo Wright.
Walton would later support several of
Person's albums beginning with 'Chocomotive' in 1967. After his military
tour Person continued his studies
at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. Person's initial
vinyl is thought to have been with
Johnny Hammond Smith in
NYC on
the latter's 'Mr. Wonderful' in 1963, also recording
Smith's 'A Little Taste'
on an unknown date that year. Person supported eight more of
Smith's LPs to 'Night
Life' on December 21, 1970. His first of more than 75 albums as a leader was 'Underground Soul' in 1966
with a crew of Mark Levine (trombone), Charles Boston (organ) and Frankie
Jones (drums). That was followed by 'Chocomotive' and 'Trust in Me' the next
year. In between those sessions had come organist, Don Patterson,
they co-leading 'Four Dimensions' on August 25, 1967, with
Pat Martino (guitar) and Billy
James (drums). Person also supported Patterson's 'Oh Happy Day!' on June 2
of 1969. Between those occasions Person had participated in guitarist,
Billy Butler's, 'This Is Billy
Butler!' on December 16, 1968.
Butler's 'Yesterday, Today &
Tomorrow' and 'Night Life' went down in 1970.
Butler contributed to Person's
'Goodness!' in August 1969, 'The Truth!' in February 1970 and 'Houston
Express' in April 1971. Another important figure arrived in March of 1973 at
the Mozambique in Detroit, that vocalist,
Etta Jones, she contributing a
couple titles to Person's 'The Real Thing'. Between the two of them they
recorded about 25 albums together
until her death in October of 2001. Their last session had been for
Jones's 'Sings Lady Day' in June 21
that year. Houston's tribute, 'To Etta with Love', was laid out on January
21, 2004. Backing up to the seventies, Person issued 'The Gospel Soul of
Houston Person' [1,
2]
w the Ogletree Brothers and The Atlanta Philharmonic in 1978. He won the
Eubie Blake Jazz Award in
1982. 'Just Friends: The Tenors of Buddy Tate, Nat Simkins, Houston Person'
[1,
2]
went down on 15 Feb 1990 w assistance by Stan Hope (piano), Major Holley
(bass) and Grady Tate (drums). 'Person-ified' [1,
2]
went down on 26 November 1996 w Richard Wyands (piano), Ray Drummond (bass)
and Kenny Washington (drums), engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. Into the new millennium, among
Person's more recent projects were 'Something Personal' recorded on 4 June of 2015 and 'Chemistry'
on 22
December that year, the latter a string of duets with bassist,
Ron Carter. Between those two
Person
had backed Freddy Cole's 'He Was the King' in October of 2015. March 27 of
2018 saw Person w
Carter again for
'Remember Love'.
Person's most recent issue as of this writing was 'I'm Just a Lucky So and
So' [*] in 2019. Among the numerous on whose recordings
Person can be found are
Ernestine Anderson, Richard
Groove Holmes and Peter Hands. References: 1,
2.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6, Lord (leading 78 of 304 sessions).
IMDb.
Interviews: NAMM 2006,
Jon Hammond 2008.
Further reading: Nat Hentoff.
Other profiles: *. Per 1963 below, both tracks are from
Hammond Smith's 'Mr.
Wonderful'. Houston Person 1963 From Hammond Smith's 'Mr. Wonderful' Compositions below by Smith Houston Person 1966 From debut album 'Underground Soul' Composition: Danny Wright Composition: Person Houston Person 1969 Composition: Sonny Phillips Album: 'Goodness!' Houston Person 1971 Composition: Horace Ott Album: 'Houston Express' Houston Person 1993 Music: Karl Suessdorf 1944 Lyrics: John Blackburn Album by Joey DeFrancesco: 'Live at the Five Spot' Houston Person 1994 Album by Joey DeFrancesco: 'All About My Girl' Houston Person 1998 Houston Person 2004 From 'To Etta with Love' Composition: Gordon Parks Music: Jule Styne 1947 Lyrics: Sammy Cahn Composition: Buddy Johnson 1945 Houston Person 2009 Houston Person 2012 Filmed live at the Iridium NYC Piano: Joe Alterman Bass: James Cammack Drums: Lewis Nash Music: Richard Rodgers 1934 Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Music: Hoagy Carmichael 1930 Lyrics: Stuart Gorrell Houston Person 2015 Music: Jimmy Van Heusen 1960 Lyrics: Sammy Cahn Album: 'Something Personal'
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 Houston Person Source: Noticias de Jazz |
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Born Huey Simmons in 1933 in Sicily Island, Louisiana,
Sonny Simmons
was raised in Oakland, CA. He began with English horn before taking up alto
sax at age sixteen. Gigs during his formative years included such as
Amos Milburn,
Lowell Fulson and
Charles Mingus. He first emerged on
vinyl in 1963 on
Prince Lasha's 'The Cry!', gone
down in Los Angeles on November 21 of '62. 'It Is Revealed' went down in May
of 1963 in NYC w
Lasha, Don Cherry
and tenor saxophonist,
Clifford Jordan. In 1965 he,
Lasha and
Jordan featured on 'Jazz Tempo,
Latin Accents'. Simmons'
debut album, 'Staying on the Watch', arrived in 1966 for ESP-Disk, recorded
on August 30, that assisted by trumpeter, Barbara Donald. Donald also
contributed to Simmons' 'Music from the Spheres'
[1,
2] gone down in Dec of '66.
Donald later emerged on Simmons' 'Manhattan Egos' recorded in Feb of '69 and 'Rumasuma'
in August of '69'. They both backed Smiley Winters' 'H.M.I.C. Head Musician
in Charge' circa 1970. Simmons' 'Burning Spirits' went down in Nov of 1970.
Lord has Donald with Simmons again in August of 1982 toward Smiley
Winters' ''That' Nigger Music!'. In the meantime Simmons had formed Firebirds with
Lasha in 1967, recording 'Firebirds'
[*] in
September w
Bobby Hutcherson
(vibes),
Buster Williams (bass)
and Charles Moffett at drums. Lord's disco has Simmons with
Lasha's Firbirds once again in
September of '77 in California toward 'Firebirds Live at Monterey Jazz
Festival Vol III'. Simmons issued
'Burning Sprits' in '79 and 'Backwood Suite' in '82, his fifth and sixth
albums.
About that time he fell into a period of struggle involving divorce, and
would at one point become homeless, busking in San
Francisco. Lord's disco picks him up again after eight years of absence
sometime in 1990, putting away 'Global Jungle'. June 28 of 1991 found
Simmons at
Barb's BBQ in Olympia, WA, with trumpeter, Barbara Donald (above) toward what saw
issue as 'Reincarnation'
[1,
2,
3] in 2015. Highly active since then,
Simmons has released an average of more
than one album per year. He helped form the Cosmosamatics in 2000, issuing
the album by the same name the next year. Lord's disco has Simmons
participating in nine of that group's albums to 'Jazz Maalika' in May of
2013. Between 2006 and 2014 Simmons recorded what saw issue in 2014 as
'Leaving Knowledge, Wisdom and Brilliance | Chasing the Bird?' [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6].
Of his own 21 albums [Wikipedia], Simmons' latest known release per this writing
was 'Nomadic' in latter 2014, having gone down sometime in 2011. Among others on whose recordings Simmons can be found are
Eric Dolphy and
Anthony Braxton.
References: 1,
2.
Sessions: Julien Palomo
(alt); Tom Lord (leading 37 of 69).
Discos:
Simmons: 1,
2,
3,
4;
the Cosmosamatics: 1,
2.
Documentaries: 'The Multiple Rated-X Truth' by Brandon Evans 2003.
Interviews: Chris Strachwitz 1969,
Clifford Allen 2004,
Andy Hamilton 2007,
Mike Shanley 2012,
Fred Jung unknown. Sonny Simmons 1963 Album by Prince Lasha: 'The Cry!' All compositions Price Lasha/Simmons Sonny Simmons 1966 Debut album All compositions Simmons Sonny Simmons 1968 Album: 'Music from the Spheres' All compositions Simmons Sonny Simmons 1971 From 'Burning Spirits' All compositions Simmons Sonny Simmons 1997 From 'American Jungle' Composition: Simmons Composition: Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II Sonny Simmons 2005 From 'Magnitudes' With the Cosmosamatics Composition: Thelonious Monk Composition: Michael Marcus Sonny Simmons 2006 Album: 'Live at Knitting Factory' Recorded 25 May 2001 NYC Sonny Simmons Trio: Bass: Cameron Brown Drums: Ronnie Burrage All compositions Simmons Sonny Simmons 2008 Filmed live Piano: Bobby Few Bass: Masa Kamaguchi Sonny Simmons 2014 From 'Nomadic' Recorded 2011 in Paris & NYC With Moksha Samnyasin: Sitar: Michel Kristof Bass: Thomas Bellier Drums/electronics: Sébastien Bismuth All compositions: Simmons/Moksha Samnyasin
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 Sonny Simmons Photo: Matt Brown Source: Wikipedia |
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Keshavan Maslak,
also known as
Kenny Millions
later in his career, was a multi-instrumentalist born to Ukrainian parents in 1930 in Detroit. They
worked at the Ford Motor Company. Maslak took up mandolin at age five,
clarinet and sax at six. His first recording came early compared to most on
this page, 'Cass Tech Symphony Band' in 1964 for his high school. His next
record was also for a school, this time the University of North Texas
College in 1969 on 'One O'clock Lab Band'. Working briefly with R&B bands,
about 1970 he headed to San Francisco where he performed before moving to
NYC in 1972. 'Lower East Side Insane Shit' was
recorded and/or issued in 1974 for Hum Ha Records, an obscure title
concerning which information has all but vanished. Mazlak's first professional recordings had been on September 28, 1977, for his duo with
pianist,
Burton Greene, on
'Variations On a Coffee Machine' released the next year. Maslak supplied
tenor sax and voice on that. 'Multiplexity' [1,
2] went down
in October of 1977, no earlier issue date known than 2000 (MusicStack). That
included the track, 'Multiplexmulti', in reference to Maslak's concept of style
diversity that he called multiplexmulti. Sessions for that are also the
first instance in Lord's Disco of Mazlak's employment of synthesizer, namely
a Buckla. Moving to Amsterdam in 1978, Mazlak there led
'Buddha's Hand' on September 15, 1978. 'Maslak 1000' ensued the next day in
Utrecht. Come 7 October 1980 in London where 'Loved By Millions' went down w
John Lindberg (bass) and
Sunny Murray (drums). Come
20 August 1981 in Amsterdam where the Keshavan Maslak Quartet spread out
'Big Time' [1,
2],
that ensemble filled by Lindberg at bass, Misha Mengelberg on piano and
Charles Moffett at drums. It was also 1981 when Maslak assumed the stage
name, Kenny Millions, upon the formation of the punk jazz group, Loved by
Millions. He would henceforth use both names
interchangeably. Having lived in Amsterdam for three years, Maslak
returned to the States in 1981 to work in NYC a little. June of '85 found
him back at synthesizer again toward 'Lovely'. It was synthesizer again on
'Better and Better' gone down in Miami on 13 March of 1987. It was
synthesizer live at the Paradox in Tilberg, Holland on 9 September of 1987 w
Han Bennink at drums toward
'Bootleg'. Synthesizer emerged again on Maslak's 1988 solo release of 'Get
The Money (Whatever It Takes)', that documented in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Maslak moved to Miami in '89
to open the Sushi Blues Cafe, later the Cafe Jamm as well. Not finished with
synthesizer, pianist, Katsuyuki Itakura, contributed that to a couple of
Maslak's albums recorded in Japan in 1993. It was piano and synthesizer by
Sergey Kuryokhin on 19 May 1995 in St. Petersburg, Russia, toward 'I Wish I
Was a Bird'. Maslak has
recorded prolifically during his career, both classical and jazz. Among the
79 titles credited to him by Wikipedia not a few were recorded on tours that
took him about the globe. Other than destinations mentioned above he has
toured throughout Europe as well as visited Lithuania and Ukraine. Among Maslak's latest CD albums were 'Bim Huis Live 1st Set' in 2008 and 'Eat Shit
@ Churchill's' the ensuing year. Among his latest digital albums (download
only) were 'Weapon' and 'Yo Honkies!' in 2013. Titles in 2016 were 'The Art of
Fuck You' and 'Circus of the Absurd'. Come 'The Age of Stupid' in 2017
followed by 'Copenhagen Bluez' and 'Fuck Music ... Tell Jokes - You'll Make More
Money' [1,
2] in 2018.
Joining him on the last performed at the Heck in Brooklyn on 2 Feb of 2018 were Damon Smith
(bass) and Weasel Walter (percussion). References: 1,
2,
3.
Discos: Maslak: 1,
2;
Millions: 3,
4; Lord (leading 49 of 63 sessions).
Instagram,
Myspace,
Twitter,
YouTube.
Interviews: Mark Swartz 2002.
Further reading: Parry Gettelman;
Bob Weinberg. Maslak is yet active
as of this writing
performing for digital media. Keshavan Maslak 1978 Album: 'New York Bust Out' Recorded 15 Sep 1978 The Bimhuis Amsterdam Issued 2000 Keshavan Maslak 1984 Album: 'Blaster Master' Recorded 16 August 1981 The Nickelsdorf Festival Austria With Charles Moffett All compositions Maslak Keshavan Maslak 1992 Composition: Kenny Millions/Paual Bley Album: 'Not to Be a Star' With Paul Bley Keshavan Maslak 2003 Composition: Boris Fomin/Gene Raskine Album: 'Friends Afar' Recorded 16 Jan 1996 The Sterling Gold Ft. Lauderdale With Sergey Kuryokhin Kenny Millions 2012 Kenny Millions 2013 Filmed live Kenny Millions 2014 Filmed live
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 Kenny Millions Photo: Ronnie Rivera |
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Born in 1923 in El Reno, OK, tenor saxophonist,
Sam Rivers,
also played flute, clarinet, harmonica and piano. His father had sang with
the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Rivers did his time in the US Navy in the forties.
Stationed in California where he played with Jimmy Witherspoon,
upon discharge he headed for Massachusetts to enter the Boston Conservatory
in 1947. While there he performed with such as
Quincy Jones and Herb Pomeroy.
He possibly recorded jam sessions as early as 1950 at the Hi-Hat in Boston with
Serge Chaloff but no confirming
discography of such is found. Lopez quotes an interview w Rivers in
Vladimir Simosko's 'Serge Chaloff' (Scarecrow Press 1998) during which he
states that the radio broadcast occurred, but without transcription. Lord
doesn't mention that session, though likely as wise to Simosko's account as
Lopez. Lopez and Lord concur that Rivers recorded a number of
unissued titles with
Tadd Dameron on December 14, 1961: 'The Elder Speaks', 'Bevan Beeps',
'Lament for the Living' and 'Aloof Spoof'. Those eventually got released by
Blue Note in 1999 on 'The Lost Sessions'. Lopez mentions another session
sometime in 1963 that Lord doesn't, that an improvisational soundtrack w
Larry Richardson on bass and Alan Dawson on drums for a film by sculptor,
Alvin Fiering. Rivers joined Miles
Davis' outfit in June of 1963. Come three sessions in Japan with
Davis in July of 1964. The first and third went unissued at the time,
eventually witnessing release in Japan in 2004 on 'Moment' and in Europe in
2011 on 'The Unissued Japanese Concerts'. The second session got issued in
1969 as 'Miles in Tokyo'. Soon back in New York City, he began working
sessions for Blue Note at its studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, joining
drummer, Tony Williams', for the
latter's debut album, 'Life Time', on August 21, getting released that year in 1964.
On November 12 he laid tracks with
Larry Young that saw the release
in March of 1965 of latter's 'Into Somethin''. On
December 11 of '64 Rivers recorded his debut LP, 'Fuchsia Swing Song', for
release in April of '65. Supporting him were
Jaki Byard (piano),
Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams
(drums). On 3 June 1971 Rivers and his trio of
Cecil McBee on bass and
Norman Connors at drums laid out 'Emanation'
[reviews: 1,
2,
3] eventually released
nigh
half a century later in 2019. That same trio laid out 'Streams',
compositions by Rivers, on 5 July of 1973, issued that year. 'Hues' went
down at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway with
Arild Andersen (bass) and
Barry Altschul (drums/percussion), both in the summer of 1973. The first of
River's big band releases was 'Crystals'
[1,
2,
3,
4] in 1974,
compositions his own. He would later form the Rivbea Orchestra, recording titles on June
13 of 1982 toward 'Jazzbühne Berlin '82' issued in Germany in 1990. 1982
also saw the recording of 'Colours' on September 13 in Milan, Italy, with
Rivers' woodwind orchestra, Winds of Manhattan, consisting of nine saxophone
players including himself. Among highlights in the nineties was his
recording of 'Configuration' in France with pianist, Tony Hymas, in 1996.
Hymas and Rivers, et al, released 'Eight Day Journal' in early 1998 before
recording 'Winter Garden' that December. Also gone down in '98 were sessions
in NYC w Rivers' Rivbea All-Star Orchestra [*]
in Sep, Oct and Dec toward 'Inspiration' [1,
2].
Into the new millennium, 25 May of 2007 saw 'Reunion'
[1,
2,
3,
4] strung along at
Columbia University, New York, w
Dave Holland at bass and Barry Altschul
on drums. Rivers' last three sessions in 2008 and 2009 were with his Rivbea
All-Star Orchestra, issued in 2011 in a box set of
3 CDs called 'Trilogy'. Having issued about 40 albums, Rivers died of pneumonia on December 26 of 2011 in
Orlando, Florida [obits: 1,
2].
His had been among master tapes destroyed by the Universal Studios fire of
2008. Among numerous others on whose recordings he can be found
are
Andrew Hill, Roots and Reggie
Workman. References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Sessions: Rick Lopez; Lord (leading 56 of 111).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
IMDb.
Compositions: 'Beatrice'.
Facebook.
Myspace.
Interviews: Ted Panken 1997;
Ted Panken 1997/99; UnderYourSkin 2009.
Further reading: Rick Lopez;
Mark Simpson.
Biblio.
Other profiles: 1,
2.
See also the Sam Rivers' Rejuvenation Orchestra *.
Sam Rivers 1964 Composition: Frank Loesser Miles Davis album: 'Miles in Tokyo' Recorded 14 July 1964 Issued 1969 Tony Williams album: 'Life Time' Recorded 21/24 Aug 1964 Issued 1964 All compositions Williams Sam Rivers 1965 Composition: Larry Young Larry Young album: 'Into Somethin' Recorded 12 Nov 1964 From debut album: 'Fuchsia Swing Song' Recorded 11 Dec 1964 Tenor sax: Rivers Piano: Jaki Byard Bass: Ron Carter Drums: Tony Williams All compositions Rivers Sam Rivers 1973 Bass: Cecil McBee Drums: Norman Connors All compositions Rivers Sam Rivers 1976 Album: 'The Quest' Bass: Dave Holland Percussion: Barry Altschul All compositions Rivers Sam Rivers 1984 Duet with Max Roach Sam Rivers 1989 10th Leverkusener Jazzstage Filmed live in Germany Comps below by Rivers Sam Rivers 2004 London Jazz Festival Composition: Rivers
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 Sam Rivers Source: bb10k |
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Born Ferrell Sanders in 1940 in Little Rock, Arkansas, free
jazz tenor saxophonist,
Pharoah Sanders,
started with clarinet as a youth, moving onward to sax in high school. "Pharoah"
is spelled differently from "pharaoh" w "a" and "o" inverted. Sanders
began his career in Oakland, CA, before moving to NYC in 1961. He there
lived the bare bones existence, sleeping in the subway on occasion, as he
began gigging with such as
Sun Ra, Don Cherry and
Billy Higgins. He picked up
the name "Pharaoh" from Sun Ra about
that time. All five of Sander's first sessions from January 3 of 1963 for
Cherry to
Paul Bley in May of '64 to his own
Quintet in September of '64 to a couple with
Sun Ra's Arkestra in December of '64 were
issued in 2012 on a CD box set of 4 called 'In the Beginning 1963 - 1964'
[1,
2,
3,
4]. Sanders' session in September was issued in '65 [discogs] on ESP Disc 1003 called 'Pharaoh'
or 'Pharoah's First' containing 'Seven by Seven' and 'Bethera'. All Music,
JDP and Discogs have that recorded on 10 Sep of '64 in NYC, Lord's disco
differing per 27 Sep. Lord's last
session on December 11 [Lord's disco; Wikipedia June 15] with
Sun Ra ended up on the latter's 1976 LP,
'Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold'. Sanders began 1965 with
'Chappaqua Suite' for
Ornette Coleman in June of 1965 before
jumping in a rushing river with
tenor saxophonist,
John Coltrane, later that month to record
'Ascension'.
Coltrane was the major figure in
Sanders' young career in the mid sixties, they to unload about ten albums
worth of material, issued sooner or later, within the next couple years. Sanders was with
Coltrane on his last live
recording in April of 1967: 'The Olatunji Concert'. That was followed by
unissued tracks for Impulse on May 17 of 1967: 'None Other' and
'Kaleidoscope'.
Coltrane assumed speaking roles on a few
recordings by pianist,
Alice Coltrane (John's second wife),
before his early death on July 17, 1967. Free
jazz had had about a decade to go haywire before inherently losing its
audience, Sanders then beginning to explore African rhythms and otherwise in
the seventies. Having toured and recorded internationally, 'Rejoice' was
created in 1981 in Germany, 'Africa' in 1988 in Japan, 'The Trance of Seven
Colors' in 1994 in Morocco. Another of Sanders' more important associates was
guitarist, Tisziji Munoz [1,
2,
3,
4], the latter backing Sanders for the first time
in Lord's Disco in the summer of '76 toward titles like 'Harvest'
issued on 'Pharoah' (India Navigation IN 1027) in 1977. Among the nine
albums on which Munoz and Sanders performed together [Wikipedia] was the
former's 'Visiting This Planet' issued in 1988 on which Sanders contributed to one track, 'To Be',
in Nov 1981. Munoz and Sanders reunited severally to as late as
'Mountain Peak' in 2014. Sanders also saw issue in 2014 on 'Spiral Mercury'
by the Chicago/São Paulo Underground. Among numerous others on whose
recordings he emerges are
Idris Muhammad,
McCoy Tyner, Kahil El'Zabar and
Kenny Garrett. His own last issue of over thirty albums was 'The Creator Has
a Master Plan', recorded in Tokyo on April 23 of 2003 with William Henderson
(piano), Ira Coleman (bass) and Joe Farnsworth (drums). Per 2016 Sanders
became an NEA Jazz Master (ceremony in Washington DC in April).
He has appeared as recently as 2019 on Joey DeFrancesco's 'In the Key of the
Universe' issued on Mack Avenue MAC 1147. Sanders died in Los Angeles on 23
September 2022. References: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Sessions: JDP; Lord (leading 57 of 136);
Scala.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
IMDb.
IA.
Reviews.
Interviews: All About Jazz 2003.
Sanders at Facebook.
Further reading: Andy Beta;
Donald Clarke;
Daniel King;
Mike Shanley. See also *.
Per 1964 below, Sanders performs w
Sun Ra on the LP, 'Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold'. Pharoah Sanders 1964 Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold Album by Sun Ra Recorded Dec '64 NYC Issued 1976 Pharoah Sanders 1965 From 'Pharaoh's First' Recorded Sep '64 NYC Comps by Sanders Pharoah Sanders 1967 Tenor sax: John Coltrane Piano: McCoy Tyner Composition: Juno Sé Mama Coltrane LP: 'Kulu Sé Mama' Pharoah Sanders 1969 Album Vocals/percussion: Leon Thomas All compositions: Sanders/Leon Thomas Pharoah Sanders 1971 Composition: Sanders Album: 'Thembi' Pharoah Sanders 1973 Album All comps by Sanders Pharoah Sanders 1977 LP: 'Pharoah' All comps by Sanders Pharoah Sanders 1978 From 'Love Will Find a Way' Arista AB 4161Recorded 1977 Burbank, CA Vocal: Phyllis Hyman Composition: Norman Connors/Paul Smith Composition: Bedria Sanders Pharoah Sanders 1979 Album Pharoah Sanders 1981 Composition: Sanders Live at the Maiden Voyage Los Angeles Pharoah Sanders 1983 Album Pharoah Sanders 1987 Composition: John Coltrane/Sanders Album: 'Oh Lord' Pharoah Sanders 1994 From 'Crescent with Love' Recorded 19 & 20 Oct 1992 NYCComposition: John Coltrane Composition: John Coltrane Pharoah Sanders 1999 Filmed live Pharoah Sanders 2001 Live in Santa Cruz Composition: Sanders/Leon Thomas Pharoah Sanders 2011 Filmed live in London
|
 Pharoah Sanders Source: All Music |
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Born in 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, alto and soprano
saxophonist,
Gary Bartz, also
played clarinet as he ventured into soul jazz, funk, traditional African
folk, hard bop and avant-garde jazz. Attending Juilliard after high school, he was
later performing at his father's club, the North End Lounge, in Baltimore when
Art Blakey came along in 1965. Bartz joined the
Jazz Messengers and made his
first record release on the
Blakey's 'Soul Finger' of 1965. That
album saw no proofreading before release: Bartz performs on alto sax on all
tracks of that LP except 'Spot Session' which is the only track on
which
Lucky Thompson participates. Bartz
issued his debut album as a leader in 1968: 'Libra'. He also emerged on
'Expansions' in '68, the first of seven more by
McCoy Tyner until
'Dimensions' in 1984. A major figure in Bartz' career,
Tyner and Bartz partnered again
in 1999 on 'McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars' and 2004 on
'Illuminations', the latter winning a Grammy in 2005 for Best Instrumental
Jazz Album. Bartz formed his group, Ntu Troop, in 1969. "Ntu" (pronounced
"into") means "unity" in the Bantu language. Tom Lord finds Ntu recording
its initial album, 'Home!', in Baltimore on 30 March of 1969, that issued on
Milestone MSP9027 in 1970. Come 'Harlem Bush Music: Taifa' in studio in New York on 19
& 23
Nov 1970. 'Harlem Bush Music: Uhuru' [1,
2,
3] followed per dates in Nov 1970 and Jan 1971 in New
York. 'Taifu' and 'Uhuru' saw compilation in 1997 on 'Harlem Bush Music'. Bartz
had worked with Miles
Davis in 1970-71 as well, his initial session in August of '70 for 'On the
Crest of the Waves'. What would amount to about nine albums later, Bartz'
last session with Davis is thought
to have been at Philharmonic Hall in NYC on November 26, 1971, for 'Bwongo'
and 'Ananka', those issued on an unknown date as 'Hooray for Miles Davis Vol
3 (Session Disc 123)'. Bartz began working with R&B artist, Norman Connors
in 1972, titles to 'Dance of Magic' gone down in June of 1972. Seven more
albums with Connors ensued to
'Invitation' in 1979. With at least 217 sessions to his credit, among the
host with whom Bartz had worked were vocalist, Phyllis Hyman,
Gene Ammons,
Donald Byrd ('Caricatures' '76),
Kenny Burrell,
Woody Shaw ('Home!' '69 and 'For
Sure!' '79), Harvie Swartz ('Return to Zero' '94), Roseanna Vitro,
Dave Holland ('Red & Orange
Poems' '94) and Keith Ailer (Spaces & Places '98). Of note in the new
millennium was the issue of 'The Montréal Concert' in 2000, a string of
duets with guitarist, Peter Leitch. Also of note was Bartz' participation in
the album by various, 'Miles from India', issued in 2008. In 2012 Bartz released the
first volume of 'Coltrane Rules: Tao of a Music Warrior'. The second volume
was released in December 2014, coming to about 31 albums by Bartz. Among his
more recent recordings was 'Search for Peace' in 2015 with Heads of State
and 'Harlem Hieroglyphs' in 2016 for Jay Hoggard. As of this writing Bartz divides his musical
career between touring and teaching at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in
Ohio. References: 1,
2.
Discos Bartz: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6, Lord (leading 34 of 221 sessions);
Discos Ntu Troop *.
Facebook.
Interviews: Ted Panken 1990/95/97;
Tom Rogers 2005;
Ted Panken 2006; Om'Mas Keith & Emma Warren 2008: transcript,
video;
Jake Feinberg 2011: 1
(alt),
2;
Jake Feinberg 2016;
Evan Haga 2019.
Further reading: Joan Gaylord;
Jazz Truth;
Jazz Truth.
Other profiles: 1,
2,
3,
4. Per 1965 below, it is Bartz on alto sax, not
Lucky Thompson on tenor. Per above,
that was a confusion at Verve Records. Gary Bartz 1965 Composition: Freddie Hubbard/Lee Morgan Art Blakey album 'Soul Finger' Gary Bartz 1968 Composition: Bartz Album: 'Libra' Gary Bartz 1970 'The Cellar Door Sessions 1970' Album by Miles Davis Recorded 16-19 Dec 1970 Issued 2005 by Columbia Composition: Josef Zawinul Composition: Miles Davis Gary Bartz 1971 Composition: Andy Bey Album w Ntu Troop: 'Uhuru' Gary Bartz 1973 I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies Album Recorded live 7 July '73 Montreux Jazz Fest Switzerland Gary Bartz 1975 Filmed in Lisbon Composition: Cole Porter Filmed live Gary Bartz 1976 Album: 'Ju Ju Man' Gary Bartz 1977 Composition: Gary Bartz/Sigidi Abdullah Gary Bartz 1991 Composition: Tadd Dameron Album 'There Goes the Neighborhood!' Recorded live 1990 Gary Bartz 1997 Filmed live Gary Bartz 2007 Filmed live in Germany Piano: McCoy TynerBass: Gerald Cannon Drums: Eric Kamau Grāvātt Compositions below by Tyner Gary Bartz 2014 Filmed concert Piano: Kirk Lightsey Bass: Tibo Soulas Drums: Samgoma Everett Filmed at Lincoln Center Composition: Sidney Bechet Gary Bartz 2015 Filmed in Greece Alto sax: Bartz Piano: Barney McAll Bass: James King Drums: Greg Bandy
|
 Gary Bartz Source: En Esencia Jazz |
|
 Marion Brown Source: Brian Olewnick |
Born in 1931 in Atlanta, Georgia, free jazz alto saxophonist,
Marion Brown,
was about 22 when he joined the US Army, was released in 1957 to study music
at now Clark Atlanta University. In 1960 he decided to examine pre-law at
Howard University in Washington DC. He got an itch for New York City in
1962. Discographies want him with Archie Shepp in October that year at Judson
Hall in NYC for unissued titles like 'The Funeral', 'Rufus Swung His Face at
Last', et al. In 1965 he was present at a session on February
16 with
Archie Shepp to yield the album,
'Fire Music'. June 26 with
John Coltrane wrought 'Ascension'. August
28 saw the Woodstock Playhouse in NY with pianist, Burton Greene,
'Live at The Woodstock Playhouse 1965' issued in 2010. In
November Brown laid his first name tracks as the Marion Brown Quartet for the
ESP label: 'Capricorn Moon', '27 Cooper Square', 'Exhibition' and
'Mephistopheles'. December 18 witnessed Greene's 'You Never Heard Such
Sounds In Your Life!'. 'Three For Shepp' was Brown's debut album release in 1967.
Brown engaged himself in a variety of projects in Paris from 1967 to 1970,
including the recording of his soundtrack, 'Le Temps Fou', in September 1968
for issue the next year. His return to the States in 1970 saw him teaching,
acquiring a bachelor's degree, then continuing to teach at universities in
Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Brown continued to compose and record
through the eighties, his final album of well above twenty is thought to
have been
'Echoes of Blue' recorded in Göttingen, Germany, in January 1992, issued in
2000. Into the new millennium Brown contributed to debut album of his son,
hip hop artist, Djinji Brown [1,
2,
3], featuring on the track, 'Papa Marion's
Fight', included on 'Sirround Sound' issued in Japan in 2002 (Miclife/ Bad
News BACY-29), in the States in 2003 (Seven Heads). Brown's were among not a
few master tapes lost to the Universal Studios fire in Hollywood in 2008. Beyond music, Brown had long entertained an interest
in art, he himself a painter. Come the 21st century, Brown was facing severe
health issues and surgeries, his condition requiring a nursing home in New
York. Moving to Hollywood, Florida, in 2005, he there died in a hospice on
October 18, 2010. References: 1,
2.
Sessions: Lord (leading 46 of 75);
Schneider: main,
personnel. Discos:
1,
2,
3,
4.
Brown in visual media. Documentaries:
Henry English 1967.
Compositions.
Authorship: 1,
2.
2003 interview w All About Jazz.
Facebook tribute.
Discussion.
Further reading: 1969-2012,
AAJ,
Eartrip,
Scaruffi.
Marion Brown 1965 Tenor sax: Archie Shepp Composition: Archie Shepp Archie Shepp LP 'Fire Music' Marion Brown 1966 Composition: John Coltrane Album with John Coltrane Edition I Brown solos on track 14 of both I & II From 'Marion Brown Quartet' Recorded 5 Nov 1965 NYC Trumpet: Alan Shorter Bass: Reggie Johnson Trumpet: Alan Shorter Percussion: Rashied Ali All comps by Marion Brown Marion Brown 1967 Debut LP 'Three for Shepp' Recorded 1 December 1966 Composition: Marion Brown Composition: Archie Shepp End 'Three for Shepp' French television broadcast Filmed live Marion Brown 1969 Album: 'Porto Novo' All comps Marion Brown From 'Le Temps Fou' Recorded Sep 1968 Paris Composition: Marion Brown Marion Brown 1970 Creative Improvisation Ensemble Album with Wadada Leo Smith Recorded 12 May 1970 Paris From 'Afternoon of a Georgia Faun' Recorded 10 Aug 1970 NYC Compositions: Marion Brown Marion Brown 1975 Composition: Marion Brown Album: 'Vista' Marion Brown 1979 From 'November Cotton Flower' Recorded 21 & 22 June NYC All comps by Marion Brown Marion Brown 1983 (No 520) Vibes: Gunter Hampel Composition: Hampel Album: 'Gemini' Recorded 13 June Ludwigsburg, Germany Marion Brown 1987 Piano: Mal Waldron Composition: McCoy Tyner Album: 'Songs of Love and Regret' Recorded 9 & 10 Nov 1985 Yerres, France
|
 Watercolor by Marion Brown 1985 Source: Live Auctioneers |
 Nathan Davis Source: Old Mon Music |
Nathan Davis
was a composer/pianist born in 1937 in Kansas City, Kansas. He had completed
his degree in music education at the University of Kansas before being
drafted into military service. Sent to Germany, he there played in a
military band, then decided to stay in Berlin when his tour in the service
was up in 1962. He there gigged a bit with Benny Bailey and Joe Harris
before moving to Paris to become a house performer at the St. Germain des
Pres nightclub, one of not a few hubs in Paris for American jazz artists
touring Europe. One reason Davis stayed in Europe was the opportunity to
play with musicians of a caliber that attempting to start his career in the
States would have made more difficult to reach. All
number of American name musicians passed through the St. Germain des Pres,
such as
Kenny Clarke or
Dexter Gordon. Davis recorded with two others in
June of 1964,
Donald Byrd and
Eric Dolphy: 'Springtime', '245', 'GW',
'Serene', 'Ode to Charlie Parker' and 'Naima'. Those tracks weren't released
until years later, variously on the
Dolphy collections: 'Naima' ('87),
'Unrealized Tapes' ('88) and 'Naima' ('95). Trumpeter,
Woody Shaw, arrived in Paris
shortly after
Dolphy's death in June of '64, Davis
recording his first two albums as a leader
with him in Germany and Paris in '65: 'Happy Girl' (January) and 'Peace
Treaty' (May). His first session with the Jeff Gilson Big Band had been in
April of '65 for tracks like 'Made for Mad' and 'Modalite' to get issued on
'Jef Gilson a Gaveau'. 'The Hip Walk' was recorded that September in Germany
with
Carmell Jones on trumpet. Davis toured Europe a bit with
Art Blakey in 1965 but didn't wish to leave
his family to return to the States with
him, a major career decision. He did decide to head back
to the States in 1969, however, for a position at the University of
Pittsburgh as Director of Jazz Studies, a tenure he held until 2013,
Professor Emeritus since then. He
received his PHD in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University in Connecticut
in 1974. In 1985 he formed the Paris Reunion Band with
trumpeter,
Woody Shaw. Albums gone down were
'French Cooking' in '85 in Stockholm, 'For Klook' in '86 in Stockholm (Klook
was drummer,
Kenny Clarke, who had died in
January of 1986), 'Hot Licks' in '87 in London' and 'Jazzbuhne Berlin '88'.
'We Remember Klook' went down in Switzerland several days after the death of
Shaw on May 10, 1989. Members present on all of the Paris Reunion
Band's recordings were Nat
Adderley on cornet and
Curtis Fuller at trombone. Davis was a founding member of Roots in the nineties.
Roots recorded two volumes of 'Salutes the Saxophone' in '91, 'Stablemates'
in '92 and 'Saying Something' in '95. Contributing saxophone to all of those
recorded in Germany were
Arthur Blythe and Chico
Freeman with
Benny Golson replacing
Sam Rivers on the last. Davis
had been a familiar figure at the Blue Note in NYC through the years, also founder and editor of the 'International Jazz Archives Journal'.
He has issued about fifteen albums to 'I'm a Fool to Want You' in 1995.
Davis died on 8 April 2018 [obits: 1,
2].
'Live in Paris' [1,
2] was issued later that year, housing recordings taped in
'65, '66 and '67.
References: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Sessions: JDP, Lord (leading 17 of 50).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Radio broadcasts: WBGO/NPR Live at the Village Vanguard 5/21/2008. Reviews.
Interviews: Legacy Award 2013. Further reading: PQ.
Other profiles:
*. Nathan Davis 1964 Recorded 11 June 1964 Paris Issued 1988 All compositions Dolphy Nathan Davis 1965 From 'Happy Girl' Recorded 31 Jan 1965 Flute: Nathan Davis Composition: Nathan Davis Composition: Nathan Davis Composition: Woody Shaw From Jef Gilson's 'A Gaveau' Recorded 3 April/15 May 1965 Composition: Jef Gilson From 'Peace Treaty' Recorded 7 May 1965 Paris Composition: Nathan Davis Composition: Nathan Davis Composition: Thelonious Monk Composition: Jimmy Woode Album: 'The Hip Walk' Recorded 7 May 1965 Paris Composition: Nathan Davis Composition: Carmell Jones Composition: Nathan Davis Nathan Davis 1969 Album: 'The Rules of Freedom' Recorded Dec 1967 Paris All compositions Nathan Davis Composition: Elias Gistelinck 'Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery' Recorded 11 July 1969 Switzerland Year of issue per RateYourMusic Tenor & soprano sax/flute: Davis Piano: Mal Waldron Bass: Jimmy Woode Drums: Art Taylor Nathan Davis 1971
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Born blind in 1949 in Greenville, PA,
Eric Kloss,
trained in piano before switching to saxophone at age ten. His debut vinyl
was his own LP six years later with guitarist,
Pat Martino: 'Introducing Eric
Kloss'. Recorded on September 1, 1965, that included
Don Patterson (organ) and Billy
James (drums).
Martino would support
four more of Kloss's albums from 'Life Force' ('67) to 'One, Two, Free'
('72). By the time Kloss graduated from high school in 1967 he had put
down two more albums, 'Love and All That Jazz' and 'Grits & Gravy' [1,
2],
both in 1966. In the summer of 1967 he squared away 'First Class Kloss!' and
'Life Force', presumably before matriculating into Duquesne University in
Pittsburgh from
which he later graduated, in the meantime recording more albums like his
next, 'We're Goin' Up', on 22 December 1967 prior to 'Sky Shadows' [*]
on 13 August of '68. Kloss's first of eight appearances on 'Mister Rogers'
Neighborhood' aired on 29 April of '71 [IMDb].
His last saw broadcasting on 30 August 1996. Kloss recorded an album or two per year, amounting to
nineteen LPs released by 1982. Among his earlier was 'Consciousness' [1,
2]
in 1970 and 'One, Two, Free' [1,
2,
3,]
in 1972. Among his later came 'Sweet Connections' in '79 though not
released until 1998. Kloss's last album, 'Sharing', arrived on 30 June and 1
July of
1981 w Gil Goldstein at keyboards. Tom Lord traces him to as late as 14/15
July 1981 in New York toward guitarist, Vic Juris', 'Bleecker Street',
after which Kloss pulled away from the national spotlight, his life
thereafter becoming obscure. Jazz Times has him marrying his wife, Candee,
in 1983. He taught briefly at Rutgers in New Jersey sometime in the eighties but there's
no traction as to just when. He and Candee both appeared on 'Mister Rogers'
Neighborhood' on 7 Nov 1990. They also ran a band together called Quiet Fire,
but granny gear can't grab just when. Kloss began teaching at his alma
mater, Duquesne, sometime in the nineties, then moved over to Carnegie
Mellon in Pittsburgh until 2001 when poor health, notably migraines and asthma, made it
too difficult to educate much less perform. In
2002 'About Time' was released, a reissue of Kloss' first two albums,
'Introducing' and 'Love and All That Jazz'. Among others on whose albums
Kloss can be found are alto saxophonist, Richie Cole,
Pat Martino ('Desperado' in
'70), Eddie Jefferson ('The
Live-liest' in '76) and
Barry Miles ('Sky Train' in '76).
References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Sessions: JDP;
Lord leading (23 of 29).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Discussion: 1,
2.
Other profiles: Jazz Wax. Eric Kloss 1965 Composition: Gershwin Brothers LP: 'Introducing Eric Kloss' Eric Kloss 1966 Composition: Johnny Mandel/Paul Francis Webster LP: 'Love and All That Jazz' Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise Composition: Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II LP : 'Grits & Gravy' Eric Kloss 1968 From 'Sky Shadows' Composition: Eric Kloss Composition: Pat Martino Eric Kloss 1969 Music: George Gershwin 1934 Lyrics: DuBose Heyward/Ira Gershwin For the '35 opera Porgy and Bess LP: 'In the Land of the Giants' Eric Kloss 1970 From 'Consciousness!' Composition: Eric Kloss Composition: Pat Martino Composition: Donovan Leitch (title above not on 'To Hear Is to See!') Eric Kloss 1974 LP: 'Essence' All compositions Eric Kloss Eric Kloss 1975 Composition: Eric Kloss LP: 'Bodies' Warmth' Eric Kloss 1978 LP All compositions Eric Kloss Eric Kloss 1980 Composition: Barry Miles LP: 'Celebration' Eric Kloss 2008 Flute solo filmed live
|
 Eric Kloss Photo: Sam Yahres Source: All About Jazz |
|
 Roscoe Mitchell Photo: Joseph Blough Source: Sound Projections |
Born in 1940 in Chicago, saxophonist,
Roscoe Mitchell,
began training as a child on clarinet, an instrument with which many sax
players begin. He did his time in the US Army in the fifties in Germany,
also studying clarinet under the first clarinetist for the Heidelberg
Symphony. Returning to the Chicago in the early sixties, Mitchell began
playing with the Experimental Band of
Muhal Richard Abrams in 1961.
Abrams would later become
among the more important of Mitchell's comrades. Mitchell joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM)
in 1965, via which he recorded the album, 'Before There Was Sound', which
wasn't released, aptly, until 2011. He did, though, contribute to a couple tracks
for Nick Grevenites for issue in 1965: '
Whole Lotta Soul' and 'Drunken Boat' (which title would imply
reference to Arthur Rimbaud). Of the thousand copies pressed five hundred
got lost, four hundred were given away and a hundred sold. I'm guessing any
copy of that disc in existence would be a pricy item. Mitchell's debut
album issue was 'Sound' in 1966. In 1967 Mitchell formed the Roscoe
Mitchell Art Ensemble which would become the Art Ensemble of Chicago
(AEC) [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7]. Its first tracks went down on May 18 of '67: 'Theme Statements', 'Tatas-Matoes'
and 'Quartet No. 1'. Those wouldn't get issued until 1993 in a box set of 5
CDs called 'The Art Ensemble 1967/68'. The AEC made its first tour to Europe
in 1969, recording four albums that June in Paris: 'A Jackson in Your
House' [1,
2], 'The Spritual', 'Tutankhamun' and 'The Paris Session'. The most constant members of
the AEC were
Lester Bowie (trumpet),
Malachi Favors (bass) and
Joseph Jarman (horns) who would
largely stay
with the AEC through the coming decades. Mitchell had gigged with
Favors
since arriving back in Chicago after military service.
Favors had backed
Mitchell on 'Before There Was Sound' in 1965 with Fred Berry
(trumpet/flugelhorn) and Alvin Fielder (drums).
Favors would be found on
scores of albums by the AEC or Mitchell to 'Sirius Calling' in 2003, he
dying in January of 2004.
Bowie had performed on Mitchell's 'Sound' gone
down in August and September of 1966. He likewise appeared on scores of
albums with the AEC and Mitchell to 'Urban Magic' in France on June 4 of
1997.
Bowie died in November of '99, after which the AEC recorded 'Tribute
to Lester' in September of 2001.
Jarman had joined
Favors and Mitchell to
back
Bowie's 'Numbers 1 & 2' in August of 1967. He would likewise perform on
numerous Mitchell and AEC albums to its most recent, 'Non-Cognitive Aspects
of the City', gone down at the Iridium in NYC in April 2004. It was
September of 1973 when Muhal Richard Abrams joined
the AEC for 'Fanfare for the Warriors'. Appearing on numerous albums by the
AEC or Mitchell, they also partnered in the support of other bands,
Anthony Braxton's in
particular. Mitchell participated in
Abrams' 'Spihumonesty' in July of 1979,
'Streaming' in January of 2005 and 'Spectrum' in the Czech Republic in 2009.
In 1974 Mitchell formed the Creative Arts
Collective that would bring about the Sound Ensemble. It was February of '76
when Mitchell supported
Anthony Braxton's 'Creative
Orchestra Music 1976'. He contributed to
Braxton's 'For Trio' in '77.
Lord's disco shows their last mutual session in Douglas Ewart's Inventions
Clarinet Choir for 'Angles of Entrance' in July of 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia.
In June of '83 Mitchell taped 'Roscoe Mitchell and The Sound and Space
Ensemble' in Milan, Italy. In 1984 he recorded 'Improvisations' with his
group, Space, in San Francisco. During the nineties Mitchell belonged to the
classical-leaning trio, Trio Space, then formed the Note Factory. The Note
Factory recorded 'This Dance Is for Steve McCall' in May of '92, 'Nine to
Get Ready' in May of '97, 'Song for My Sister' in 2002 and 'Far Side' on
March 17, 2007, in Germany. In 2007 Mitchell assumed the Chair of
Composition at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he yet resides as
of this writing. Among others Mitchell supported during his career were George
Lewis, Matthew Shipp and
Evan Parker. Between the AEC and
other of his projects Mitchell has appeared on above 100 albums. Solos
among those were 'Solo Saxophone Concerts' ('74), 'Duets & Solos' ('93) and
'Solo 3' ('03). Titles gone down in Germany in Sep of 2004 saw issue in 2007
on 'Composition / Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3' [1,
2,
3] as the Transatlantic Art
Ensemble. On 30 August of 2009 Mitchell conducted his 'Three Compositions'
[1,
2] featuring the Black Earth Ensemble of flautist, Nicole Mitchell. Among his most recent collaborations was for
Jack DeJohnette's 'Made in
Chicago' with Abrams,
Henry Threadgill [1,
2,
3] on alto sax and Larry Gray on bass in 2013. Mitchell laid
out 'Conversations 1 & 2' in September that year. Come 2015 it was
'Celebrating Fred Anderson'. November of 2016 in Berkeley brought tracks
toward 'Discussions' [1,
2].
It was 'Four Ways' with Yuganaut in 2017.
Favors' most recent issues as of this writing were both solo ('Littlefield
Concert Hall Mills College March 19-20, 2018') and w the AEC in 2019, the
latter being 'We Are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration' [1,
2,
3,
4]
recorded circa Oct of 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mitchell is named an NEA
Jazz Master as of 2020. References for Mitchell:
1,
2,
3,
4;
discos:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
Lord (leading 105 of 205 sessions);
reviews; interviews:
Ted Panken 1995,
Jason Gross 1998,
Lazaro Vega 2002,
Jack Gold-Molina 2004,
Christian Belanger 2007;
awards/grants; further reading:
Kevin Jones;
other profiles: 1,
2.
References for the Art Ensemble of Chicago: discos: 1,
2,
3, Lord (54 sessions);
reviews.
Per below, there's more of
Mitchell than the AEC. See
Malachi Favors for a more
representative sampling. Roscoe Mitchell 1966 Album All composition: Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell 1975 Composition: Mitchell LP: 'Roscoe Mitchell Quartet' Trombone: George Lewis Piano: Muhal Richard Abrams Guitar: Spencer Barefield Roscoe Mitchell 1977 Composition: Joseph Jarman Album: 'Nonaah' Roscoe Mitchell 1978 Album with Anthony Braxton All compositions by Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell 1981 Composition: Mitchell Album: 'Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin' Shoes' Roscoe Mitchell 1984 Album: 'Sound and Space Ensembles' All compositions: Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell 1999 Album: 'Nine to Get Ready' All compositions: Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell 2013 Solo filmed live in Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Born in 1943 in Houston, saxophonist,
Billy Harper
graduated from the University of North Texas in 1965 after recording Stan
Kenton's 'Horns Of Plenty Vol 2' on April 27 in Denton with the University
of North Texas Neophonic Orchestra. That didn't see issue until 2003. He traveled to NYC in
1966 where he appeared with his ensemble on 'The Big Apple' television
special that year. (We're cheating a bit call that his first recording date,
issued by broadcast rather than record company.) Harper treaded water
getting his bearings for
about a year until hooking up with
Gil Evans in '67, with whom he would work
for the next several years. His first session with
Evans is thought to have been at the
Village Vanguard in NYC in 1969 toward
Evans' 'Blues in Orbit' in
1971. Harper would participate in about eight of
Evans LPs to 'There Comes
a Time' gone down in the spring of 1975. Prior to Harper's first session
with Evans had come drummer,
Art Blakey, in August 1968 at
Slug's Saloon in NYC toward the 1974 release of 'Live! Vol 1'. He also recorded in
Berlin with
Blakey in '68, that to become
available on a CD called 'Moanin' on an unknown date (not to be
confused with
Blakey's 1958 issue of 'Moanin' before Harper's time). Also
important in the formation of Harper's early career was the
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
Orchestra which he joined in time to participate in 'Consummation' in
January of 1970. Four albums later it was 'Potpourri' in Philadelphia in
June of '74. Lord's disco has Harper with the
Jones/Lewis
operation to as late as February 8, 1975, at the Great American Music Hall
in San Francisco, CA, for titles like 'Blues in a Minute' and 'Living for
the City', et al. Other figures arriving in the early seventies to have a
pronounced presence in Harper's career were drummer,
Max Roach and
pianist,
Randy Weston, he to support
several albums by each of them. In latter 1971 Harper had assisted
Bobbi Humphrey's debut album,
'Flute-In'. Harper's initial
LP as a leader was 'Capra Black' in 1973. March 13 of 1974 witnessed 'Jon &
Billy' taped w Jon Faddis at trumpet, et al, in Tokyo. Come 'Black Saint' [1,
2]
in Paris on 21 and 22 July 1975 w his Quintet filled by himself at tenor
sax, Virgil Jones (trumpet), Joe Bonner (piano), David Friesen bass and
Malcolm Pinson (drums). Harper's Quintet for 'Love on the Sudan' [1,
2]
in New York in June of 1977 consisted of Everett Hollins (trumpet), Mickey
Tucker (piano), Gregg Maker (bass) and Malcom Pinson (drums). Having issued about twenty LPs as
a leader or co-leader, among his most recent was 'The Roots of the Blues' [1,
2,
3] in
2013, a set of duets with Weston.
Harper also worked as an educator. He began teaching improvisation in New
Jersey high schools in 1972. He taught sax and flute at Rutgers in 1975 and
has been a visiting instructor at various schools about the globe since the
nineties. Come 2010 he formed the Cookers [1,
2,
3,
4,
5] with
Eddie Henderson (trumpet),
David Weiss (trumpet), Craig Handy (alto/flute), George Cables (piano),
Cecil McBee (bass) and
Billy Hart (drums). They
rolled out their first album, 'Warriors', on January 19 and 20 of 2010
toward issue the next year. 'Cast the First Stone' went down w the same outfit in NYC on 5 and 6 April of 2010. It was the same ensemble for 'Believe'
[1,
2,
3] in Brooklyn on 27 and 28 March of 2012.
Come 'Time and Time Again' in New York on 5 and 6 May of 2014 w the same
bunch. 'The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart' featured the same
configuration excepting that Donald Harrison replaced Handy on alto.
Among others on whose recordings Harper can be found are
Lee Morgan, Klaus Weiss and
Charles Tolliver. Harper
has won numerous awards, including by 'Jazz Magazine' (Japan), the NEA,
'Swing Journal International' and 'Down Beat'. Harper is active
delivering jazz with smaller ensembles as of this writing. References:
1,
2.
Discos: 1,
2,
3 (BH Quintet),
4,
5,
6, Lord (leading 20 of 127 sessions).
Select videography.
Interviews: Russ Musto 2007.
Further reading: Ina Dittke (BH Quintet);
Richard Scheinin: 1,
2,
3;
Zan Stewart. Billy Harper 1968 Composition: Earl Brent/Matt Dennis LP: 'Art Blakey and The 'Jazz Messengers' Live! Vol. 1' Recorded live August 1968 Slug's Saloon, NYC Issued 1974 Billy Harper 1970 Thad Jones/Mel Lewis LP: 'Consummation' All compositions Thad Jones
All arrangements Thad Jones
Billy Harper 1972 Composition: Harper LP: 'Masabumi Kikuchi + Gil Evans' Billy Harper 1973 Album All compositions Harper Billy Harper 1975 Album All compositions Harper Trumpet: Virgil Jones Piano: Joe Bonner Bass: David Friesen Drums: Malcolm Pinson Billy Harper 1979 LP: 'In Europe All compositions Harper Billy Harper 1990 Live at the Pori Jazz Fest Finland Composition: Harper Billy Harper 1993 Composition: Harper LP: 'On Tour in the Far East Vol 2' Recorded 1991 Billy Harper 1995 Filmed live Composition: Harper LP: 'Somalia' All compositions Harper Billy Harper 2009 Filmed live Composition: Harper Billy Harper 2011 Filmed live Billy Harper 2014 Filmed live
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 Billy Harper Source: Billy Harper |
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 Noah Howard Source: Noah Howard |
Born in 1943 in New Orleans,
Noah Howard
began training in music with trumpet before switching to saxophone (alto,
tenor, soprano). He took the long route to New York City, spending time in
Los Angeles and San Francisco, before arriving to record his first album in
January of 1966 [Discog] for ESP-Disk: 'Noah Howard Quartet' (ESP 1031). That
contained the tracks 'Henry's Street', 'Apotheosis', 'Apotheosis Extension
I' and 'And About Love'. Differing from Discogs, Tom Lord has those going
down on 25 Feb of '66. Come 'Noah Howard at Judson Hall' on 19 October of
'66 toward issue in 1968. Howard made a preliminary move to Paris in 1968
before becoming a permanent resident in 1972. In the meantime he recorded
his album, 'The Black Ark' [1,
2],
back in New York City sometime in 1969 w Earl Cross (trumpet), Arthur Doyle
(tenor sax), Leslie Waldron (piano), Norris Jones (bass), Muhammad Ali
(drums) and Juma Sultan (congas). Howard lived in South Africa for a brief
period before founding his own record label, Altsax [*], in 1971,
its initial release being 'Patterns' in 1973 [Discogs/ RYM], that taped in
Hilversum, Holland, in October 1971 for mastering in NYC. July 5 of 1973 saw
his visit to WKCR Radio in NYC for the taping of 'Living Space' and 'Duet for Alto & Bass' [*]
w Glenn Dong (guitar), Earl Freeman (bass) and Jean-Louis Mechali
(percussion). Howard's was an extensive catalogue,
recording 44 albums issued in his lifetime.
His last such studio recording was 'Voyage'
released on February 10 of 2010. He was relaxing in southern France when he died
on 3 September that
year [obits: 1,
2].
His posthumous memoir, 'Music in My Soul' [1,
2],
saw publishing by Buddy's Knife in 2011, edited by Renate Da Rin and Guy
Fraser.
Among various others he had supported were
Frank Wright, Zusaan Kali Fasteau and
Eve Packer. References: 1,
2,
3.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4, Lord (leading 25 of 40 sessions).
Select videography.
Reviews.
Tour itinerary.
Interviews: Phil Freeman for 'Wired' 2006.
Further reading:
Destination: Out;
Andrey Henkin;
ubu roi. Noah Howard 1966 Album All comps by Howard Alto sax: Howard Trumpet: Ric Colbeck Bass: Scotty Holt Percussion: Dave Grant Noah Howard 1968 From 'At Judson Hall' Comps by Howard Noah Howard 1970 Composition: Howard Album: 'Space Dimension' Noah Howard 1972 From 'The Black Ark' Recorded 1969 NYC Issued 1969 per various Issued 1972 per Discogs, Musicbrainz & RYM Alto sax: Noah Howard Tenor sax: Arthur Doyle All comps by Noah Howard Noah Howard 1973 Guitar: Glenn Dong Bass: Earl Freeman Percussion: Jean-Louis Mechali Alto/composition: Howard Noah Howard 1974 Album: 'Live at the Swing Club Torino Italy' Piano: Michael Smith Bass: Bob Reid Drums: Noel McGhie All compositions: Howard Noah Howard 1975 From 'Live in Europe Vol 1' Composition: Nat Dove/Howard Composition: Howard Composition: John Coltrane Noah Howard 1979 Message to South Africa Part I Composition: Howard Message to South Africa Part II Composition: Howard Note: 'Message to South Africa' was recorded in Paris in 1979, not issued until 1999 on 'Patterns/Message to South Africa' (Eremite MTE019) which includes a reissue of 'Patterns' recorded in 1971 toward original release in 1973 on Altsax AMC 1000. Noah Howard 2000 Filmed live Noah Howard 2010 From 'Voyage' Composition: Nat Dove/Howard Composition: Howard Composition: John Coltrane
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 Byard Lancaster Source: All Music |
Born in 1942 in Philadelphia, PA, saxophonist/flautist,
Byard Lancaster,
studied at Shaw University in North Carolina and the Berklee College of
Music in Boston before heading to New York City. That would have been in
time to record 'Sunny Murray' on July 23, 1966.
Sunny Murray was to play a
large role in Lancaster's career into the eighties. His sixth album with
Murray was 'Change of the
Century Orchestra' in Berlin on November 6 of 1987, issued in 1999. Lord's
disco has Lancaster's second session on October 4 of '66 with Ric Colbeck
for unknown titles per Pixie. He supported
Bill Dixon's 'Intents and
Purposes' six days later on the 10th. Come Marzette
Watts on December 8 toward 'Marzette and Company' ('68). Ten days later on
the 18th Lancaster recorded his first LP, 'It's Not Up To Us'. Lancaster's first tour to Europe was with
Murray in 1969, recording 'An
Even Break (Never Give a Sucker)' in Paris on November 22. He worked with pianist,
Sun Ra from '68 to '71, pianist,
McCoy Tyner, in the seventies.
During the eighties Lancaster issued a couple albums with cellist, David Eyges.
2005 saw the issue of 'Pam Africa' for CIMP (Creative Improvised Music
Projects). Lord's disco shows Lancaster leading or co-leading eighteen
albums to 'Ancestral Link Hotel' gone down in Rossie, NY, on April 12, 2005.
He died of pancreatic cancer in August of 2012 [obits: 1,
2]. He had been featured on
'It's OK to Love' included on the album by various, 'Useless Education', in 2008.
References: 1,
2.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
Lord (leading 28 of 79 sessions).
IA.
Interviews: Dr. Carol Muller 2005.
Byard Lancaster 1966 Album: 'Sunny Murray' Alto sax: Byard Lancaster/Jack Graham Trumpet: Jacques Coursil Bass: Alan Silva Percussion: Murray All compositions Murray Byard Lancaster 1968 Recorded 8 Dec 1966 LP: 'Marzette Watts and Company' All compositions Watts 1, 2, 3, 4Composition: Lancaster Album Recorded 18 Dec 1966 Byard Lancaster 1974 From 'Us' Recorded 24 Nov 1973 Paris Bass: Sylvain Marc Drums: Steve McCall All compositions Lancaster Note: 'Us' above was also added to the 2008 reissue of 'Funny Funky Rib Crib'. The album, 'Us', also includes 'Just-Test', not to be confused with 'Just Test' on 'Funny Funky Rob Crib' (below). From 'Exactement' Recorded 1 Feb & 18 May 1974 Paris Composition: Lancaster Composition: Lancaster From 'Funny Funky Rib Crib' Recorded June 1974 Paris All compositions Lancaster Issued 1974 per RYM & comment at Discogs Note: 'Just Test' above not to be confused w 'Just-Test' recorded in Paris in 1973 for inclusion on 'Us' (above w Sylvain Marc at bass and Steve McCall on drums). Byard Lancaster 2005 Byard Lancaster 2008 Composition: Lancaster/John Coltrane
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Born in 1940 in Detroit,
Bennie Maupin
performed on sax, flute and bass clarinet. He began his recording career in
1965 with
Andrew Hill. 'One for One' wasn't released, however, for another
ten years in 1975, Maupin on tracks one through four. His first title to see record shops was with
Marion Brown, recording 'Exhibition' for
the latter's 'Marion Brown Quartet' in
November of 1965. That was followed in April of '66 with
Brown's 'Juba-Lee'. He
would later appear on
Brown's 'Afternoon of a Georgia Faun' in 1970.
It was December 1, 1967, when Maupin joined
Lee Morgan on
McCoy Tyner's 'Tender Moments.'
Maupin also contributed to
Morgan's 'Taru' in February of '68 and 'Caramba!'
in May. 'All That Jazz' and 'Live at the Lighthouse' followed in July of
1970. Maupin would see
Tyner again in 1978 for the latter's 'Together'. On December
26, 1968, Maupin joined
Jack DeJohnette on the
latter's 'The DeJohnette Complex'.
DeJohnette and Maupin worked together
with other bands, such as
Chick Corea's ('Is' '69) and Miles
Davis' ('Bitches Brew' '69). Maupin contributed to
DeJohnette's 'Have
You Heard?' in April of 1970 and 'Sorcery' in 1974. They would join one
another again on
Tyners 'Together' in 1978. Among
the more important of Maupin's comrades was pianist,
Herbie Hancock, with
whom he first recorded on Davis' 'Big Fun' in November of '69. Maupin
participated in Hancock's 'Mwandishi' in 1970 and appeared on
seven more to 'Dis Is Da Drum',
issued in 1994. Hancock
supported Maupin on his debut LP, 'The Jewel in the Lotus'
[1,
2], in March of
1974. Maupin, bassist, Paul Jackson, and percussionist, Bill
Summers, had been original members of Hancock's
Headhunters with Harvey Mason on drums to record 'Head Hunters' in September
of '73. Mike Clark replaced Mason on 'Thrust' in August of '74, making up
the core membership of the band to which others would be variously added.
'Straight from the Gate' went down in San Francisco in May and June of '77
with Hancock out. The
Headhunters were resurrected twenty years later in 1997, Hancock
to feature as a guest on 'Return of the Headhunters', recorded in July and
September. That was Hancock's
last contribution to the band, he out on
'Evolution Revolution' in 2003. Come 'On Top - Live in Europe' in 2007 with
TM Stevens replacing Jackson on bass. In spring of 2011 the Headhunters
issued 'Platinum', now with Richie Goods at bass. Constant members of the
Headhunters on all their recordings were Maupin, Summers and Clark
(excepting 'Head Hunters'). The Headhunters had also filmed a concert
at the Winterland in San Francisco on May 9 of 1975 (below), release
unknown. It had been Hancock's
'Mwandishi' in 1970 above that Maupin held his first mutual session
with trumpeter, Eddie Henderson.
Maupin contributed to Henderson's
debut LP, 'Realization', in February of 1973. 'Inside Out' followed in
October, 'Sunburst' in 1975 and 'Mahal' in '78.
Henderson participated in
Maupin's second LP, 'Slow Traffic to the Right', in January of '77. More
than thirty years later they joined
Hubert Laws (flute) and
Benny Golson (tenor sax) for composer,
Meeco's, 'Beauty of the Night' issued in 2012. Lord's disco shows Maupin
recording as recently as vocalist, Mel Collins', 'A Little Jazz Now and
Then' issued on July 22 of 2013. Among numerous others Maupin had supported
along a path of around 150 sessions were drummer,
Roy Haynes, Horace Silver,
Sonny Rollins,
Lenny White, Alan Kimara Dixon
and Victor Bailey. He himself issued six albums. Unmentioned above were
'Moonscapes' in early '78, 'Driving While Black' in 1998 and 'Penumbra' in
June of 2003. In September of 2007 Maupin recorded his latest issue in
Warsaw, Poland, the highly acclaimed 'Early Reflections' [1,
2,
3,
4]
with Polish trumpeter,
Tomasz Stanko.
References: Wikipedia. Discos:
1,
2,
3, Lord (leading 4 of 154 sessions).
IMDb.
Select videography.
Interviews (dates unidentified): 1,
2.
Facebook tribute.
Maupin's website. Further reading:
Sheryl Aronson,
Don Heckman,
Jon Solomon,
Zan Stewart.
Other profiles: 1,
2,
3.
Bennie Maupin 1966 LP: 'Marion Brown Quartet' Recorded Nov 1965 Sax: Marion Brown Trumpet: Alan Shorter Bass: Reggie Johnson Percussion: Rashied Ali All comps by Brown Bennie Maupin 1968 Filmed live Piano: Horace Silver Composition: Silver Bennie Maupin 1969 Piano: Andrew Hill Recorded 1 Aug 1969 Andrew Hill LP 'One for One' Recorded '65/'69/'70 Issued 1975 All comps by Andrew Hill Bennie Maupin 1974 Debut name LP All comps by Maupin Bennie Maupin 1975 Filmed live with the Headhunters Bennie Maupin 1977 From 'Slow Traffic to the Right': Composition: Maupin Composition: Maupin Bennie Maupin 1978 Composition: Maupin Arrangement: Maupin LP: 'Moonscapes' Bennie Maupin 2006 From 'Penumbra' All comps by Maupin Bennie Maupin 2008 Composition: Maupin LP: 'Early Reflections' Filmed live Bennie Maupin 2013 Filmed live Bennie Maupin 2015 Filmed live
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 Bennie Maupin Photo: Mosaic Images Source: Blue Note |
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Born in 1931 in Fort Worth, TX,
Dewey Redman
was father to saxophonist, Joshua Redman [1,
2,
3]. He went to the same high school as
Ornette Coleman and the two played
in a band together. He thought he might pursue electrical engineering after
high school but that didn't work out, so he studied industrial arts at the
Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University, accepting his
bachelor's in 1953. He'd meanwhile progressed from clarinet to alto sax to
tenor. After a couple years in the Army he entered the University of North
Texas to receive his master's in education in 1957, minoring in industrial
arts. He'd meanwhile begun teaching public school. He took off for San
Francisco in 1959 where he would freelance for the next several years,
sessioning
his first album, 'Look for the Black Star', on January 4, 1966, in his
quartet with Jym Young (piano) Raphael Donald Garrett (bass) and Eddie Moore
(drums). Heading to New York City in 1967, his professional association with
Coleman began in 1968,
contributing to
Coleman's LP, 'New York Is Now!'
that year on April 29. Redman's partnership with
Coleman would result in eleven some
albums, issued sooner or later, to 'J for Jazz Presents Ornette Coleman
Broadcasts' on September 22, 1972. Redman's work with
Coleman affected an important
relationship with bassist,
Charlie Haden, the latter joining
Coleman in time for 'Ornette at
12'.
Haden and Redman would partner into
the nineties through Coleman,
Keith Jarrett, Don Cherry
and
Roswell Rudd. Redman was a
member of
Haden's conglomerate for 'Liberation
Music Orchestra' in April of 1969, 'The Ballad of the Fallen' in November of
1982 in Germany and 'Dream Keeper' in April of 1990. In 1976 they had formed
a quartet in NYC named Old and New Dreams with
Cherry (cornet) and
Ed Blackwell (drums), recording
'Old and New Dreams' in October'. Another 'Old and New Dreams' was put down
in August of '79 in Oslo, Norway. Come 'Playing' in Austria in June of 1980
and 'A Tribute to Blackwell' in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 7, 1987. Among
the important drummers in Redman's career was
Paul Motian. Their initial
session together may or may not have been for
Carla Bley and Paul Haines'
'Little Pony Soldier' on an unknown date, that issued on both a 7" 45 on an
unknown date and 'Escalator Over the Hill' in 1971. That was followed or not
by
Hadens 'Liberation Music Orchestra'
per above in April of 1969. The band with which
Motian and Redman are most
associated was
Keith Jarrett's from 1971 to
1976. They later backed
Haden's 'The Ballad of the Fallen' in
Ludwigsburg, Germany, in November of 1982. Come
Motian's 'Monk in Motian' in
March of 1988,
Haden's 'Dream Keeper' in 1990 and
Motian's 'Trioism' in June of
1993 with Joe Lovano (tenor sax) and Bill Frisell (guitar). Others they had
supported were cornetist, Don Cherry
('73), and bassist, Ed Schuller ('93). Redman's recording career with
Cherry had begun with
Ornette Coleman, their first mutual
session at New York University, NYC, on March 22, 1969, for 'Crisis'. They
traveled through
Coleman's operation together into
1972 before Redman supported Cherry's
'Relativity Suite' on Valentine's Day, 1973.
Cherry was a member of Old and New
Dreams per above with
Blackwell and
Haden, recording four albums with
that quartet from October 1976 to November 1987. In the meantime Redman had
toured to Italy with Cherry for
'Live in Nervi 1979', that with
Blackwell and
Haden. Three years later they had
supported
Haden's 'The Ballad of the Fallen' in
Germany in 1982. Redman's first session with drummer,
Ed Blackwell, is thought to
have been for
Coleman's 'Man on the
Moon'/'Growing Up' in June of 1969. They toured through
Coleman together before backing
Cherry's 'Relativity Suite' in '73.
Per above, they both participated in all four albums by the quartet, Old and
New Dreams from 1976 ('Old and New Dreams') to 1987 ('A Tribute to Ed
Blackwell'). Along the way
Blackwell joined Redman and
Malachi Favors (bass) in a trio in
Paris for Redman's 'Tarik' on October 1, 1969. It was another trio, now with
Fred Simmons (piano), on April 25, 1979, for 'QOW' and 'Dewey Square', those
found on the album by various, 'For Taylor Storer', in 1988. It was their
duo, 'Red and Black', on August 31, 1980, in Willisau, Switzerland. In 1981
Blackwell and Redman
participated at the Woodstock Jazz Festival for the tenth anniversary of
Creative Music Studio, a DVD of that released in 2001 by Pioneer Artists. It
was Redman's 'The Struggle Continues' in January of 1982 in a quartet with
Charles Eubanks (piano) and Mark Helias (bass). It was another duo on June
28, 1980, for 'Improvisation 1 & 2', found on the LP by various, 'Back on
52nd Street', in 1997. It was the
Blackwell Trio with Cameron
Brown (bass) at the University of Massachusetts on February 27, 1992, for
'Walls-Bridges' ('96). They had also partnered on Ed Schuller's 'Mu-Point'
in January of '93. As indicated, keyboardist,
Keith Jarrett, was Redman's
main vehicle for five years. Strings of titles from four sessions during
July 8-16, 1971, resulted in such as 'El Juicio' ('The
Judgement') released in 1975. 'Birth' got issued in 1971. Redman
participated in no less than
twelve some
Jarrett LPs to 'Byablue' and
'Bop-Be' on October 14-16, 1976. Among the numerous others Redman had
supported during his career were
Billy Hart,
Randy Weston and Tom Harrell.
Redman himself had recorded about fifteen albums from 'Look for the
Black Star' above in 1966 to 'Momentum Space' in August of 1998. He died of liver
failure in Brooklyn in September 2, 2006 [obits: 1,
2,
3,
4].
Redman's were among master tapes destroyed in 2008 Universal Studios fire
where they were in storage.
References: 1,
2.
Sessions: JDP; Lord (leading 19 of 121).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
IMDb.
Interviews: R.J. DeLuke 2003.
Discussion.
Further reading: NPR.
Other profiles *. Dewey Redman 1966 Album (1975 reissue) Tenor sax: Redman Piano: Jim Young Bass/clarinet: Donald Garrett Drums: Eddie Moore All compositions Redman Dewey Redman 1969 From 'Tarik' Bass: Malachi Favors Drums: Ed Blackwell All compositions Redman Dewey Redman 1973 Filmed with Keith Jarrett Dewey Redman 1974 Album: 'Coincide' All compositions Redman Dewey Redman 1979 Composition: Redman Album: 'Musics' Recorded October 1978 Piano: Fred Simmons Bass: Mark Helias Drums: Eddie Moore Composition: Ornette Coleman Album: 'Old and New Dreams' Recorded August 1979 With Old and New Dreams: Pocket trumpet: Don Cherry Bass: Charlie Haden Drums: Ed Blackwell Dewey Redman 1981 Filmed with Pat Matheny Dewey Redman 1982 Composition: Redman Album: 'The Struggle Continues' Piano: Charles Eubanks Bass: Mark Helias Drums: Ed Blackwell Dewey Redman 1985 Album: 'Red and Black in Willisau' Drums: Ed Blackwell All compositions Redman Dewey Redman 2002 Filmed at the Chivas Jazz Festival Composition: Ray Noble 1934
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 Dewey Redman Source: Roberto's Winds |
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 Frank Wright Photo: Lona Foote Source: JJA Jazz House |
Born in 1935 in Grenada, MS, free jazz tenor saxophonist,
Frank Wright,
was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. During his late teens he followed his
family to Cleveland. Chris Kelsey at All Music has Wright playing electric bass in R&B bands
until meeting saxophonist,
Albert Ayler, in Cleveland,
where
Ayler resided. Not until the
early sixties did Wright take himself to NYC where he would gig with such as
Larry Young,
Sunny Murray,
Noah Howard.
John Coltrane and Cecil
Taylor. His first recording date is thought to have been in 1965 with his own trio consisting of
Henry Grimes (bass) and Tom Price
(drums): 'Frank Wright Trio' (ESP 1023) containing 'The Earth', 'Jerry' and
'The Moon'. August 17 of '66 found him on titles later issued in 2004 on
Albert Ayler's box set of 10
CDs titled 'Holy Ghost': 'Spirits Rejoice', 'Zion Hill', 'F# Tune', et al.
Wrights' album, 'Your Prayer', followed in 1967 (ESP 1053). Among Wright's
more applauded albums was 'Blues for Albert Ayler' [1,
2,
3,
4] recorded live at Ali's
Alley in NYC on 17 July 17 1974 w
James Blood Ulmer (guitar), Benny Wilson
(bass) and
Rashied Ali (drums). Alternating periods
between the United States and France, among the numerous musicians Wright
supported were
Bobby Few, Hannibal Marvin
Peterson, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Saheb Sarbib,
Peter Brötzmann, TTT, Raphe
Malik and AR Penck. He died young on May 17 of 1990 in Germany, having
issued a minimum of 13 albums, 'Run With the Cowboys' among his
latest in 1983. References: 1,
2.
Sessions: J-Disc (w comps by Wright); Lord (leading 20 of 39);
Scala.
Discos: 1,
2,
3.
Compilations: 'The Complete ESP-Disk' Recordings' 1965/67 on ESP Disk ESP 4007 issued 2005:
1,
2,
3.
Discussion. Frank Wright 1967 Composition: Arthur Jones LP: 'Your Prayer' Frank Wright 1969 Composition: Bobby Few LP: 'One for John' Frank Wright 1971 Composition: Wright LP: 'Church Number Nine' Issued '71 Japan: Odeon OP-88019 Issued '73 France: Calumet C 3674 Frank Wright 1974 Composition: Wright/Muhammad Ali LP: 'Adieu Little Man' Percussion: Muhammad Ali Frank Wright 1979 Composition: Wright/Tony Smith LP: 'Stove Man, Love Is the Word' Trumpet: Kamal Abdul Alim Piano: Tony Smith Drums: Gerry Griffin Percussion: Khalil Abollah Frank Wright 1981 Frank Wright 1983 LP: 'Run with the Cowboys' Frank Wright 2004 LP: 'Uhuru Na Umoja' Alto sax: Noah Howard Piano: Bobby Few Drums: Arthur Taylor All comps by Howard
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| Eddie Daniels See
Jazz Clarinet:
Eddie Daniels. |
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 Joseph Jarman Circa 1970 Photo: Tom Copi Source: About Entertainment |
Born in 1937 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas,
Joseph Jarman
began playing drums in high school, picking up clarinet and saxophone upon
joining the US Army and playing in an Army band. Upon discharge in 1958 he
enrolled at Woodrow Wilson Junior College where he met a number of important
early musical associates also attending Wilson at that time: bassist,
Malachi Favors, and saxophonists,
Anthony Braxton,
Roscoe Mitchell and
Henry Threadgil. He would
soon meet pianist,
Muhal Richard Abrams, with
whom he,
Favors and
Mitchell privately played as the Experimental Band. He
became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
(AACM) in 1965. The AACM helped launch many a recording career, including
Jarman's, he laying the tracks for his debut solo album, 'Song For', in October and December of 1966. The next
year he,
Favors and trumpeter,
Lester Bowie, joined
Mitchell
in the formation of the Art Ensemble, releasing 'Numbers 1 & 2' that year.
The Art Ensemble would become the Art Ensemble of
Chicago [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7] in 1969, issuing seven albums that year alone
to include 'A Jackson in Your House' [1,
2]. That group established a commune in Paris in 1969 to which drummer,
Steve McCall, belonged. He and
Favors returned to Chicago in the seventies. Jarman remained with the Art
Ensemble until 1993, the nineties not wholly inactive, but a drifting
period, until his return to the Ensemble in 2003. That operation has
recorded to as recently as April 2004 for 'Non-Cognitive Aspects of the
City'. (A more representative
list of
tracks by the AEC than below.) Yet active as of this
writing, Jarman has also composed for orchestra and multimedia. Apart from
the AEC he has led or co-led at least twelve more albums to 'Bright Moments
– Return of the Lost Tribe' in December of 1997. Beyond
music, Jarman had been a Buddhist some years, having traveled to various
monasteries in Eastern Asia. He was a Jodo Shinshu priest, holding a
fifth degree black belt in Japanese aikido before his death on 9 Jan 2019 in
Englewood, New Jersey [obits: 1,
2,
3,
4]. References
for Jarman:
1,
2,
3; discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
Lord (leading 25 of 115 sessions);
IMDb;
interviews:
Jason Gross 1999; further reading: Scaruffi.
References for the Art Ensemble of Chicago: discos: 1,
2,
3, Lord (54 sessions);
reviews.
Joseph Jarman 1967 From 'Love For' Delmark 410 All comps by Jarman Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City Art Ensemble of Chicago 1973 From 'Fanfare for the Warriors' Composition: Lester Bowie Composition: Jarman Joseph Jarman 1977 With Anthony Braxton & Roscoe Mitchell Joseph Jarman 1980 From 'Black Paladins' Recorded Dec 1979 Piano/bass: Johnny Dyani Drums: Don Moye Composition: Henry Dumas/Jarman Composition: Jarman Joseph Jarman 1996 Piano: Marilyn Crispell Composition: John Coltrane
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Born in 1946 in Brooklyn, Jewish saxophonist,
David Liebman,
began training in classical piano at seven, moving onward to saxophone at
age twelve. He is thought to have been a junior year at New York University
when he made his debut recordings on February 22, 1967, with the Free
Spirits for 'Live at the Scene' issued much later in 2011. Drummer,
Bob Moses, was in on that, to become one of Liebman's more important associates
into the eighties, both backing other ensembles, such as
Steve Swallow's
(Home' '79), and each other.
Moses would contribute to Liebman's 'Drum Ode'
in 1974, 'Spirit Renewed' in 1982 and 'Homage to John Coltrane' in 1987.
Liebman would participate in
Moses' 'Bittersuite in the Ozone' in 1975,
'Family in '79, 'Visit with the Great Spirit' in 1983, 'The Story of Moses'
in 1986 and 'Wheels of Colored Light' in 1992. We return to the completion
of Liebman's junior year at New York University when his parents thought it well to add to his education such as only
travel to Europe could provide. Giving him a book titled 'Europe on $5 a Day' with a
$1000 wad, they then flew him off to London. Twenty years old in a strange land, he did have some phone numbers which by this
and that path landed him in Sweden to make his first recordings on Lars (Lasse)
Werner's 'Och Hans Vanner' in July of 1967. Returning to America for his senior
year at NYU, he graduated the next with a degree in American History, that
accomplished with relief that he could now pursue the jazz that had long
since been more his element. He recorded his debut album, 'Night Scapes',
in February of 1970 with the Carvel Six, not issued until
1975. His next sessions as a leader would arrive in Tokyo in July of '73 for
'First Visit' issued that year. 'Lookout Farm' followed in October in NYC,
issued that year. Returning to 1970, Liebman accompanied Ten Wheel Drive,
Terumasa Hino and
Chick Corea that year. Trumpeter,
Hino, would become an important
associate, they backing other ensembles and each other into the nineties on
multiple occasions. Liebman participated in
Hino's 'Journey to Air' in March
of 1970 per above, 'City Connection' in July of 1979 and 'Daydream' in 1980.
Hino accompanied Liebman on 'Doin' It Again' in August of '79 and 'If They
Only Knew' in Holland in July of 1980. Another important drummer arrived on
February 12, 1971, that
Elvin Jones for the latter's
'Genesis'. Liebman contributed to five more of
Jones' LPs to 'Earth Jones' in
1992. Liebman worked with Miles
Davis from '72 through '74. Along the way he contributed to the
latter's 'On the Corner', 'Dark Magus' and 'Get Up with It'. His performance
with Davis at the Newport Jazz
Festival in 1973 saw issue in 2015 on 'Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The
Bootleg Series Vol 4'. Liebman recorded his LP,'Sweet Hands', in '75. He also appeared on 'Father Time' and 'The Year of the
Ear' that year. 1977 found him touring internationally with
Chick Corea. Liebman was an
original member of Quest, releasing 'Quest' in 1981. That ensemble
consistied of
George Mraz (bass),
Al Foster (drums) and Richie Beirach
(piano). With
Mraz and
Foster getting replaced by Ron
McClure and
Billy Hart, Liebman contributed
to six more of that ensemble's LPs to 2005 in Switzerland for 'Redemption'
issued in 2007. That was yet with Beirach, McClure and
Hart. Liebman accompanied guitarist, Tisziji Munoz,
from 'Visiting This Planet' ('88) to 'The Human Sprit' in 2001. Three
albums with Saxophone Summit followed in 2002 ('Gathering of Spirits'), 2008
('Seraphic Light') and 2014 ('Visitation'). On September 22, 2011,
Liebman had featured with the Vein Swiss Trio in Paris on the live
album, 'Lemuria'. 'Jazz Talks' followed in December of 2013 in Basel,
Switzerland. Among the host of others with whom Liebman has laid
tracks along the way were the Open Sky Trio, Tom Harrell, the Ronan Guilfoyle Trio and the Peter Wettre Trio. Among trios in his own catalogue
of at least 79 albums was 'Monk's Mood' in 1999 with
Eddie Gómez (bass) and Adam Nussbaum
(drums). Liebman's latest releases per this writing were 'The Puzzle' in
2015, 'Balladscapes' in April 2016 and 'On the Corner Live: The Music
of Miles Davis' in 2019 [*]
w Jeff Coffin also on saxophones and flute. Since I'm out of rope I'm
going to have to drop the rest of the way like Wile E. Coyote, since past Liebman's numerous awards excepting his NEA Jazz Master's in 2011. He has also taught music in various
distinguished capacities. Having published numerous books [1,
2,
3] as well, in 2014 Liebman released his
autobiography, 'What It Is: The Life of a Jazz Artist' in
conversation with Lewis Porter [excerpt].
References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Sessions: JDP; Lord (leading 127 out of 456
to date).
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Interviews: Jack Gold 2004;
Ted Panken 2006;
Cara Consilvio 2010;
Carole Dely 2011;
Bill Kirchner 2011
(pdf);
Lydia Liebman (daughter) 2011 (video);
Abbey White 2018; AAJ 2019;
Ted Panken 2019;
various.
Further reading: Liebman on composing: 1,
2;
on transcriptions;
Ted Panken;
Michael West.
Liebman at Facebook.
Other profiles: 1,
2,
3.
Per 1967 below, 'Vår
i Helsingfors' is from the Lars (Lasse) Werner LP: 'Och Hans Vanner'. David Liebman 1967 From 'Och Hans Vänner' LP by Lars (Lasse) Werner Recorded in Stockholm Piano: Lars Werner All comps by Lars Werner David Liebman 1973 Composition: Liebman LP: 'First Visit' Filmed with Pete Cosey (guitar) David Liebman 1974 LP: 'Lookout Farm' Recorded 10 & 11 Oct 1973 All comps by Liebman David Liebman 1975 Filmed live Composition: Liebman LP: 'Drum Ode' Recorded May 1974 David Liebman 1980 Composition: Liebman LP: 'What It Is' Guitar: John Scofield David Liebman 1988 LP: 'Trio + One' Oboe: Caris Visentin Bass/cello: Dave Holland Drums: Jack DeJohnette All comps by Liebman David Liebman 2005 Concert filmed in Slovenia David Liebman 2008 Filmed concert David Liebman 2009 Filmed live Composition: John Coltrane David Liebman 2013 Album
|
 David Liebman Source: Bop Shop Records |
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Born in 1941 in Salam, Oregon,
Jim Pepper
was a Kaw-Muskogee American Indian. He was playing sax at age twelve in the
Young Oregonians with
Glen Moore in Portland. In 1964
he ventured to NYC where he gigged until forming the Free Spirits with
Larry Coryell. recording
'Out of Sight and Sound' [1,
2] in latter '66 for issue the next year. That is often cited as the first jazz fusion album.
The Free Spirits' 'Live at The Scene' followed on February 22 of '67. In
1967-68 Pepper participated in
Bob Moses' 'Love Animal', not issued until
2003. Pepper contributed to
Coryell's 'Basics' in latter '68.
He
formed Everything Is Everything, recording the album by the same name,
in 1969. That included 'Witchi Tai To', a Kaw tribe peyote song. Pepper
would continue incorporating jazz with American Indian themes. Another
version was issued on Pepper's LP, 'Pepper's Pow Wow', in 1971, that with
Coryell at guitar. During the
eighties Pepper worked closely with both drummer,
Paul Motian, then pianist,
Mal Waldron. He had briefly lived in
Alaska where he recorded 'Polar Bear Stomp' in Juneau in October of 1984,
that issued on the album by various, 'Alaska Hit Singles'. Pepper had
crossed the Atlantic so many times on tour that he finally simplified by
moving to Vienna, Austria, in 1989. He later returned to Portland where he died of lymphoma
in February of 1992 at the young age of fifty [obit]. He had recorded eleven albums during his relatively
short career, his last being 'Afro Indian Blues' in Raab, Austria, on May 19
of 1991. Pepper was later the subject of Sandra Osawa's
documentary, 'Pepper's Pow Wow', premiering in 1996 [1,
2,
IMDb]. References: 1,
2.
Sessions: Dan Kurdilla: 1,
2;
Lord (leading 29 of 55). Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Reviews.
Collections: sheet music.
Further reading: Bill Siegel: 1,
2,
3.
Other profiles: 1,
2
(alt). The Free Spirits 1967 From 'Out of Sight and Sound' Guitar: Larry Coryell All compositions Larry Coryell Everything Is Everything 1969 From 'Everything Is Everything' Vanguard VSD 6512 Composition: John Coltrane Composition: Chris Hills Composition: Jim Pepper Also issued on 7" 45 rpm: Vanguard Apostolic VRS-35082 Jim Pepper 1971 Jim Pepper 1983 From 'Comin' and Goin'' Composition: Jim Pepper Composition: Jim Pepper Jim Pepper 1989 Composition: Jim Pepper/Mal Waldron Album: 'Quadrologue at Utopia' Piano: Mal Waldron Bass: Ed Schuller Drums: John Betsch Jim Pepper 1991 Jazzfest Raab, Austria Tenor sax: Pepper Piano: Amina Claudine Myers Bass: Anthony Cox Percussion: Leopoldo Flemming Composition: Jim Pepper Composition: Jim Pepper Composition: Jim Pepper
|
 Jim Pepper Source: Discogs |
|
 Anthony Braxton Source: Akamu |
Born in 1945 in Chicago, composer,
Anthony Braxton,
performed on a variety of reeds (sax, clarinet, flute) as well as piano.
Famous for dialogue between traditional and avant-garde jazz, as well as
much not jazz at all, Braxton studied at
Roosevelt University in Chicago and became a member of the Association
for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Braxtion is thought to
have first recorded in 1967 with
Muhal Richard Abrams, two sessions
resulting in
Abrams' 'Levels and Degrees
of Light' the next year. In 1968 two sessions resulted in his first album,
'3 Compositions of New Jazz', issued that year. In 1969 he recorded alto
saxophone solos for the double-sleeve release of 'For Alto' in 1970. It was
1970 when he joined
Chick Corea's group, Circle, recording for the '75 release of 'Circling In'
and the '78 issue of 'Circulus'. In 1971 Braxton appeared on Circle's live
album 'Paris Concert'. Lord puts Braxton's first session with the Creative
Music Orchestra at the Chatellerault Jazz Festival in France on 11 March
1972 toward the issue of 'RBN----3° K12' in 1977 by Ring Records [Discogs]. Among
other highlights in the seventies was Braxton's issue
of 'In the Tradition' in '74 w
Tete Montoliu (piano),
NHOP
(bass) and
Albert Heath (drums). Come
February 1976 in NYC toward 'Creative Orchestra Music 1976'
[1,
2].
Braxton thought not one, but several, orchestras requisite to 'For Four
Orchestras' in 1978, that containing 'Composition 82'
[1,
2]
performed by 160 instruments. 1979 saw more solo compositions per 'Alto Saxophone Improvisations 1979'. 1981 brought Braxton a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Also notable in the eighties was Braxton's first performance of his opera
series, 'Trillium', on 16 March of 1985 at the Mandeville Center, U of
CA/San Diego. That was titled 'Trillium A',
no recordings issued of that. Several operas have developed of such over the
decades identified as 'A', 'M', 'R', 'E', 'J', 'X' and 'L'. Half of 'Trillium
M' (aka 'Dialogues M' or 'Composition No. 126') went down in London on 15
May of 1994 w the Creative Jazz Orchestrta. Those were the first two acts of
four to see later issue in 2006 on 'Composition No. 175 | Composition No. 126
Trillium-Dialogues M' [1,
2,
3].
'Trillium R' ('Composition No. 162' or 'Shala Fears for the Poor') saw
recording at the John Jay Theatre in NYC in October 1996 toward issue in
1999 on 4X CD by Braxton House [Discogs] [1,
2].
The first studio recording of a 'Trillium' opera was of 'E' in March of 2010
[1,
2,
3].
Come 'Trillium J' on dates in April 2014 toward issue by Braxton House in
2016 [1,
2]. We need back up to the eighties to highlight Braxton's 1989 issue of '19 [Solo] Compositions 1988'
w the Creative Music Orchestra. Braxton filled a quartet w Marilyn Crispell
(piano), Mark Dresser (contrabass) and Gerry Hemingway (drums & marimba)
toward the 4X CD issue of 'Willisau (Quartet) 1991' in 1992
[1,
2,
3]. Come another small ensemble in July of '93
in Oakland, CA, toward 'twelve compositions' w Marilyn Crispell (piano),
Mark Dresser (bass) and Gerry Hemingway on drums, vibes and percussion. 1994
brought Braxton a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. In 1995 Braxton began a
decade of what he called Ghost Trance music, a manner of composing fashioned
after the the ghost dances of the American Plains Indian. Continuing into
the new millennium, live recordings in Bolzano, Italy, on June 16, 2007
resulted in 'creative orchestra (bolzano) 2007' w his Creative Orchestra
joined by the Italian Instabile Orchestra (IIO) [1,
2,
3].
Braxton founded the Tri-Center Orchestra in 2010
toward the 2011 release of his opera, 'Trillium E', gone down in March of
2010. That orchestra was reduced and reformed for the 6 Oct 2011 recording
of 'Creative Music Orchestra (NYC) 2011' in Brooklyn. In 2013 Braxton was
recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. The NEA (National
Endowment for the Arts) appointed him a Jazz Master in 2014.
The 2 CD set, 'Ao Vivo Jazz
Na Fábrica', appeared in 2016 w brass by Taylor Ho Bynum, guitar by Mary
Halvorson and additional sax by Ingrid Laubrock. That had gone down in
August in Brazil. Braxton ventured into a cappella composition in 2017 w the twelve-member
Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble, releasing 'GTM (Syntax) 2017'
[*]
in 2019 from sessions in Jan of 2017 in Brooklyn. Come 21 May of 2017 toward
'Solo (Victoriaville) 2017', a set of alto sax solos issued that year. Beyond music,
Braxton's greatest passion had been chess. (He'd been a professional hustler
in New York City parks in the early seventies.) Having released some 170
albums as a leader from out of 456 sessions counted by Lord (incomplete), Braxton is currently Artistic Director of the Tri-Centric
Foundation dedicated to his legacy.
References encyclopedic: 1,
2,
3;
musical: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Sessions:
Guthartz;
Guthartz in detail:
1,
2;
JDP; Lord;
M & H;
personnel.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Compilations: 'The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton' 1974-76 8X CD by Mosaic 2008:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Compositions: No. 1-199;
IMDb;
sessions.
Analysis & criticism: geometrical notation: Lock;
Ghost Trance music: Dicker,
Kitamura/Rhodes,
Walls;
'In the Tradition': Whitehead;
'Trillium' operas: Walls,
Young: 1,
2.
Interviews: Ted Panken 1995,
Terzioglu/Erdem 1995,
Graham Lock 1995/96,
Mike Hefley published
2001,
Ted Panken 2002.
Biblio: 'Blutopia' by Graham Lock (Duke U Press 1999):
1,
2;
'Forces in Motion' by Graham Lock & Nick White
(Da Capo Press 1989);
'Time and Anthony Braxton' by Stuart Broomer
(Mercury Press 2009).
Further reading: David Adler,
Anthony Braxton,
Robert Levin,
NPR,
Ted Panken,
Restructures.
Anthony Braxton 1968 Album Anthony Braxton 1969 More simply: 'Anthony Braxton' Reissued per above in Italy 1980 Solo album Composition: Wadada Leo Smith Album: 'Anthony Braxton: B-X0 NO-47A' Anthony Braxton 1971 Composition: Wayne Shorter Circle album: 'Paris Concert' Piano: Chick Corea Upright bass: Dave Holland Drums: Barry Altschul Anthony Braxton 1975 Composition: Nacio Herb Brown/Gus Kahn Album: 'Five Pieces' Trumpet/flugelhorn: Kenny Wheeler Bass: Dave Holland Drums: Barry Altschul Anthony Braxton 1977 Album sharing reeds with: Henry Threadgill/Douglas Ewart Track 1 Roscoe Mitchell/Joseph Jarman Track 2 Anthony Braxton 1979 Alto Saxophone Improvisations 1979 Solo album Anthony Braxton 1980 Album with Max Roach Compositions: Braxton/Roach Anthony Braxton 1992 Composition No. 165 (for 18 instruments) Live album Composition: Braxton Anthony Braxton 1993 Album Piano: Fred Simmons Diuble bass: Paul Brown Drums: Leroy Williams Anthony Braxton 2004 Album: '23 Standards (Quartet) 2003' Guitar: Kevin O'Neil Bass: Andy Eulau Percussion: Kevin Norton Anthony Braxton 2005 From '20 Standards (Quartet) 2003' Guitar: Kevin O'Neil Bass: Andy Eulau Percussion: Kevin Norton Composition: John Coltrane Composition: Paul Desmond Anthony Braxton 2012 12+1 Tet Filmed live Anthony Braxton 2015 Filmed live Sonic Genome Filmed live Anthony Braxton 2017 Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble Album 12 compositions by Braxton
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Born in 1945 in Tampa, Florida, smooth jazz master,
David Sanborn,
began playing alto sax as a youth with polio upon the advice of a doctor. It
being 50/50 with doctors, he might have been lucky. As a
teenager he jammed with such as
Albert King and
Little Milton. He attended
both Northwestern University and the University of Iowa before heading to
San Francisco to there join a friend. He there happened upon another earlier
friend, Phillip Wilson, who was playing with
Paul Butterfield, which is how
he came to record 'The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw' with
Butterfield's
blues band in December of 1967, released the next month in '68. Beginning to
work as a studio musician, Sanborn is credited with above 230 of them, 70
his own. He later toured with
Stevie Wonder,
appearing on
Wonder's 'Talking Book' in 1972.
Sometime in 1973 he supported O'Donel Levy's 'Everything I Do Gonna Be
Funky'. Among the more important figures in Sanborn's career was bandleader,
Gil Evans, they recording unknown titles
on April 4 of of '73 at the Whitney Museum in NYC. It was
Evans' 'Svengali' in latter May. Come
June for 'The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix'. 'There
Comes a Time' went down in March of 1975, 'Priestess' in May of '77. A tour
to London in February of '78 wrought 'At the Royal Festival Hall' and 'The
Rest of Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall'. Sanborn's last sessions
with
Evans are thought to have been on June 5
of 1982 for parties unknown on unissued titles such as 'Well You Needn't (Thelonious Monk)
and 'Blues in Orbit' (Billy Strayhorn). Sanborn is thought to have worked with the
Rolling Stones before touring with
David Bowie, appearing on
Bowie's 'Young
Americans' per 1975. He later backed the
Stones' 'Undercover' released in
1983. Sanborn had issued his LP, 'Taking Off', in '75, the debut of more than thirty as a leader or co-leader.
Sanborn began working in radio and television in the latter eighties. He
hosted the 'Night Music' television program for a couple years, starting in
'88. He also hosted 'The Jazz Show with David Sanborn' radio program into
the nineties. Sanborn also regularly hosted the ABC television special, 'After
New Year's Eve'. He's appeared on 'David Letterman' on numerous occasions,
both in Paul Shaffer's band and with his own. Having won six Grammy Awards,
Sanborn has also scored eight gold albums and one platinum ('Double Vision'
1986), which is how he can afford his favored alto sax, the very expensive
Selmer Mark VI wanting $6000. He likes the Vandoren V16 reeds which, at
Sanborn's pace, each lasts about a week. Having also composed for films,
Sanborn resides in Manhattan and is yet active. His latest LP release
was 'Time and the River' in 2015. Among the many on whose recordings he can
be found are the Manhattan Transfer, John Tropea,
Maynard Ferguson, Steve
Khan, Bob James,
John McLaughlin, Jun Fukamachi,
Michael Kamenand and Al Jarreau.
References: 1,
2,
3.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6, Lord (leading 70 of 236 sessions).
IMDb.
Interviews: NPR 2006.
Transcriptions: SDartSax; books:
'David Sanborn Collection' (Hal Leonard 1989), 'The Best of David Sanborn' (Hal Leonard 1994), 'David Sanborn Songs' (Jamey Aebersold Jazz Volume 103 2002), 'David Sanborn' (Hal Leonard Saxophone Play-Along Volume 8 2016).
Further reading: Andrew Abrahams;
Paul Brown;
Walter Tunis.
Per 1967 below, both tracks are from 'The
Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw' by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. David Sanborn 1967 From 'The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw' Paul Butterfield Blues Band Composition: William Bell/Booker T. Jones Composition: Deadric Malone David Sanborn 1975 From 'Taking Off' Composition: David Matthews Composition: Steve Kahn Composition: Steve Kahn David Sanborn 1979 David Sanborn 1986 Filmed concert Filmed at SIR Studios Composition: Al Green/Teenie Hodges David Sanborn 1988 Filmed at Live Under the Sky Compositions: Marcus Miller David Sanborn 1989 Trumpet: Miles Davis David Sanborn 1990 Filmed live at Under the Sky Composition: Marcus Miller David Sanborn 1991 Festival Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz Filmed concert Piano: Kenny Kirkland David Sanborn 1999 Television broadcast: 'After New Year's Eve' Television broadcast: 'After New Year's Eve' David Sanborn 2009 Filmed concert David Sanborn 2010 Filmed concert David Sanborn 2013 Filmed Concert Album Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 David Sanborn 2015 Composition: Sylvain Luc/Alice Soyer Album: 'Time and the River' Filmed at Montreux Composition: Marcus Miller
|
 David Sanborn Source: EJazz News |
|
 Arthur Blythe Photo: Frank Schindelbeck Source: Jazz Pages |
Born in 1940 in Los Angeles,
Arthur Blythe
began alto sax at age nine, shifting from R&B to jazz as a teenager. Having
lived in San Diego, he returned to Los Angeles at age nineteen where he met
pianist,
Horace Tapscott. The two became founding members of the Underground
Musicians and Artists Association (UGMAA) in 1961, which became the Union of
God's Musicians and Artist's Ascension (UGMAA) a few years later. Blythe
had first surfaced on vinyl with
Tapscott in 1969 on the album, 'The Giant
Is
Awakened'. Blythe worked with
Tapscott until 1974 when he went to New York
where he worked with Chico Hamilton
from '75 to '77. Blythe contributed to
Hamilton's 'Peregrinations' in '75, 'Chico Hamilton and The Players' in
'76 and 'Catwalk' in '77. They would reunite in
the new millennium for 'Firestorn' ('01). Blythe joined Synthesis sometime
in 1976 for 'Sentiments', 'Six By Six' following on August 17 of 1977. The
major figure in Bylthe's career in the latter seventies was pianist,
arranger and conductor,
Gil Evans, with whose orchestra Blythe
recorded 'Synthetic Evans' in Warsaw, Poland, on October 23, 1976. Blythe
toured with
Evans to Europe for sessions in '77 and '78, recording
'Parabola' in Rome on July 29 of 1978. In February of 1980 he supported
Evans' 'Live at The Public Theatre' in New York City. Blythe
had recorded his debut album, 'The
Grip', on February 26, 1977. Lord's disco has him leading 23 albums to 'Live
at Yoshi's' in Oakland, CA, in December of 2003. It was also some time in
1977 that Blythe held his first mutual session with trumpeter,
Lester Bowie, that for a couple
titles recorded at the Environ Loft in NYC issued on 'Environ Days' in 1991
(discography for 'Environ Days'). The
next year in April of '78 Blythe joined
Bowie's quintet, the Leaders,
for 'The Fifth Power'. Another session with the Leaders in 1986
witnessed 'Mudfoot'. 'Slipping and Sliding' was recorded in Brooklyn in
'93 and '94. 1979 saw Blythe touring to Havana, Cuba, with the CBS Jazz
All-Stars for both volumes of
'Havana Jam' on March 3 at the Karl Marx Theatre. In 1980 he showed up on
McCoy Tyner's 'Quartets 4 X 4'.
Eleven years later be joined
Tyner on ''44th Street Suite' on
May 11, 1991. The year after 'Quartets 4 X 4' Blythe found himself
partnering with saxophonist, Chico Freeman, in the
McCoy Tyner Quintet at the
Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in July of 1981 for 'Rotunda', that
included on the 1982 album by various, 'The New York Montreux Connection
'81'. Freeman and Blythe worked together numerously for the next fifteen
years. They were both members of the Leaders and Roots, also backing each
other's projects. On February 25, 1989, they co-led 'Luminous'. Blythe
participated in Freeman's 'The Unspoken Word' in 1993 and 'Focus' on May 16
of 1994. Freeman assisted Blythe on 'Night Song' in August of '96. Another
ensemble to which Blythe belonged was the World Saxophone Quartet, recording
'Metamorphosis' in April of 1990 and 'Breath of Life' in September of 1992.
Other than Blythe that quartet consisted of Oliver Lake, David Murray and
Hamiet Bluiett. Between those two albums Blythe joined Roots for live
sessions in Leverkusen, Germany, in October of 1991 to result in both
volumes of 'Salutes the Saxophone'. Joining Blythe on alto sax were tenors
Nathan Davis, Chico Freeman and
Sam Rivers. That square of
saxophones was maintained on 'Stablemates' recorded in Heidelberg, Germany,
on December 14 and 15, 1992. Benny Golson
replaced
Rivers on tenor for 'Saying
Something' at Muddy's Club in Weinheim, Germany, on June 14, 1995. Another
group to which Blythe got attached was the Music Revelation Ensemble,
recording 'In the Name of ...' in December of of 1993 in NYC, that
including
Rivers. 'Knights of Power'
arrived in April of 1995 with
Rivers out. The other members of
that band on both those sessions were Hamiet Bluiett (baritone sax),
James Blood Ulmer
(guitar), Amin Ali (electric bass) and Cornell Rochester (drums). Another
group was the trio, Another Interface, with John Fischer (piano) and Wilber
Morris (bass), recording 'Live at the BIM' at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam,
Holland, on October 1, 1996. Blythe also contributed to a couple albums by
drummer, Joey Baron, in the latter nineties: 'Down Home' in '97 and 'We'll
Soon Find Out' in '99. Blythe's latest studio album release was 'Exhale' in 2003.
That was followed per above by 'Live at Yoshi's' in December of 2003. Come a
trio in February of 2004 with David Eyges (electric cello) and Abe Speller
(drums) for 'Ace'. February 2, 2006, saw Blythe contributing to Gitta
Kahle's 'Blue Tide Red'. Blythe died on 27 March 2017 [obits: 1,
2,
3,
4].
References: 1,
2,
3.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Archives.
Further reading: Lee Rice Epstein;
Will Layman.
Other profiles: *. Arthur Blythe 1969 Album by Horace Tapscott Piano: Horace Tapscott Bass: David Bryant/Walter Savage Jr. Drums: Everett Brown Jr. All comps by Tapscott Arthur Blythe 1977 Composition: Blythe Album: 'The Grip' Arthur Blythe 1978 Album Recorded 1977 All compositions Blythe All arrangements Blythe Arthur Blythe 1979 From 'In the Tradition' Recorded Oct 1978 Composition: Juan Tizol Composition: Blythe Composition: Duke Ellington Composition: Fats Waller End 'In the Tradition' Album Recorded 1978 All compositions Blythe Arthur Blythe 1980 Album: 'Illusions' All compositions Blythe Filmed live Arthur Blythe 1981 Filmed live Arthur Blythe 1989 Composition: Kirk Lightsey Album: 'Unforeseen Blessings' Arthur Blythe 1994 Composition: Don Pullen Album: 'Retroflection' Recorded 25 & 26 June 1993 Village Vanguard NYC Piano: John Hicks Bass: Cecil McBee Drums: Bobby Battle
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Born in 1949 in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania,
Michael Brecker
was younger brother to trumpeter,
Randy Brecker. Like many
saxophonists, Brecker began with clarinet, assumed alto as he matured, then
found tenor to be his fit. He was yet a high school student when he was
recorded at the Summer Big Band Camp on something titled 'Ramblerry School
'66'. No notion what's become of that. Graduating from high school in 1967,
Brecker attended Indiana State University for a year before popping up in
New York City where he rapidly began earning good money as a session
musician. In 1968 he backed
Randy, and was also featured, on the
latter's 1969 debut LP, 'Score', thereafter to became one of the more prolific
recording artists in jazz, having appeared on more than 700 albums during
his career (we've read 900 somewhere). Brecker formed the brief-lived band,
Dreams, with
Randy and drummer,
Billy Cobham in '70.
Cobham was an
important figure early in Michael's career, as would be his brother,
Randy,
throughout. Michael and
Randy formed the Brecker Brothers in 1975, a group
that would be their main engine into the eighties, reuniting in the nineties
and 21st century as well. Their debut issue as such went down in Jan of 1975
toward 'The Brecker Bros.' on Arista. Michael formed Steps
in 1979, becoming Steps Ahead in '82 upon discovery that another band
already owned the Steps name. Brecker's debut LP, 'Cityscape', was issued in
1982. I dread to say that partial listings of Brecker's recordings are alone
so intimidating that unusual courage is requisite to look upon them. Only I
dare to give a meager account of the roster of musicians Brecker has backed
with saxophone in the manner that I do here: Hal Gulper,
James Brown,
James Taylor,
Art Garfunke,
Paul Simon,
Patti Austin,
Carly Simon, Jun Fukumachi, Bob James, Chaka Khan,
Yoko Ono, John Patitucci,
Frank Zappa,
Al Foster, Parliament, The Manhattan Transfer,
John Tropea,
Joe Farrell,
Alphonse Mouzon, Members
Only, Jim Beard, Jason Miles,
McCoy Tyner, Sports Music Assemble People (SMAP), Kazumi Watanabe
and Michael Franks, not to mention work on several soundtracks. Into the new
millennium Brecker was struck with MDS, giving his final performance at
Carnegie Hall in June of 2006. He died of leukemia on 13 January the next year
in New York City [obit]. His final of above ten albums, 'Pilgrimage', was issued
the next May. Brecker had brought home 15 Grammy awards, was recipient of an
honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 2004 and was
posthumously inducted into 'Down Beat' magazine's Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007.
His saxophone was the Selmer Mark VI. References for Michael encyclopedic: 1,
2,
3,
4;
musical: 1,
2,
3.
Chronology.
Sessions: JDP;
live; Lord.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Concert itinerary.
Transcriptions.
2004 interview w Wouter Turkenburg on behalf of students at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Holland. Further reading:
Ted Panken 2000; article archives:
1,
2.
Facebook tribute.
Collections.
Other profiles: 1,
2.
References for the Brecker Brothers: 1,
2,
3. Sessions:
JDP; Lord.
Discos: 1,
2.
Compilations: 'The Brecker Bros. Collection' Vol 1
& 2 1975-81 by RCA 1990/91. Michael Brecker 1969 Album by Randy Brecker Dreams 1970 LP: 'Dreams' Trumpet/Flugelhorn: Randy Brecker Composition: Barry Rogers/Doug Lubahn Jeff Kent/Brecker Brothers Dreams 1971 Trumpet/Flugelhorn: Randy Brecker Vocal: Randy Brecker Composition: Randy Brecker LP: 'Imagine My Surprise' Michael Brecker 1977 Filmed with the Hal Galper Quintet Trumpet: Randy Brecker Michael Brecker 1983 Filmed with Steps Ahead Michael Brecker 1989 Filmed concert The Brecker Brothers 1992 Filmed concert Michael Brecker 1998 Filmed concert Michael Brecker 2001 Filmed concert Michael Brecker 2003 Filmed with Chick Corea Michael Brecker 2004 Filmed concert Michael Brecker 2007 Brecker's final album
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 Michael Brecker Photo: Enid Farber Source: Michael Brecker Live Recordings |
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Paul McCandless See
Paul McCandless. |
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Steve Grossman
was born in New York City, in 1951. Foregoing clarinet, he was big enough
for alto at age eight, went soprano at fifteen, then tenor the next year. He
was seventeen when he contributed tenor to pianist, Weldon Irvine's, cover
of
John Coltrane's 'Mr. P.C.' in 1968. That would get issued much later on
''Weldon & The Kats in 1989. Miles
Davis picked him up in November of 1969 for titles toward 'Big
Fun' ('74) and 'The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions' ('98 discogs discography). Needless to say,
young Grossman did some serious honing with
Davis, appearing on the latter's
'Live at Fillmore East' in 1970, recorded in June. He emerged on several
other Davis albums in the early seventies, including a live engagement at
Fillmore West in April 1970, issued in 1973 as 'Black Beauty'. Lord's disco
shows their last recordings per the CBS Records Convention in Freeport,
Grand Bahama Island on August 2 of 1970 for 'Directions', 'Bitches Brew', et
al. They would reunite at Grande Halle de La Villette in Paris in 1991,
Davis' 'At La Villette' issued in 2001 on DVD. Also
playing a large role in
Grossman's earlier career was drummer,
Elvin Jones. His first two of
several LPs with
Jones were issued in 1972: 'Merry-Go-Round' and 'Mr.
Jones'. The sixth and last was 'The Main Force' in 1976. They would reunite
on February 12, 1993, for Grossman's 'Time to Smile'. It had been time for
Grossman to focus on his own album in 1973, releasing 'Some
Shapes to Come' the next year per his Quartet with
Jan Hammer, Gene Perla and
Don Alias. Out of that quartet the Stone Alliance [1,
2]
was formed with Perla and Alias. That configuration of the group
would vary from 'Stone Alliance' in 1975/76 to 'Con Amigos' in 1976/77 and 'Stone Alliance
- Marcio Montarroyos' in 1977. Perla and Alias would later resurrect Stone
Alliance without Grossman. Of at least eight or nine albums gone down in the
eighties, a concert in Tokyo at the Someday in May of '87 w Makoto Terashita
(piano), Yoshio Suzuki (bass) and Masahiro Yoshida (drums) resulted in the
1990 issue of 'Live at the Someday Vol 1' [*]. Grossman's last album recorded in the eighties was 'Bouncing with Mr. A.T.' [*] on 23 Oct
1989 in Genova, Italy, w
Art Taylor at drums and Tyler
Mitchell on bass. Leading or co-leading at least ten alums in the nineties,
Grossman's
last that decade arrived in Paris in January of '98 w Michel Petrucciani at
piano, Andy McKee at bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums toward 'The Steve
Grossman Quartet with Michel Petrucciani' [1,
2,
3]. Grossman has released about twenty-five albums as a leader or co-leader to
'Homecoming' gone down in October of 2010. Among other collaborations in the
new millennium were 'Lagos Blues' in 2010 with pianist, Antonio Ciacca and
'Take the 'D' Train' with the Martin Sasse Trio in Cologne, Germany, on
November 16, 2013. Grossman died of cardiac arrest in Glen Cove, NY, on 13
August 2020. References: 1,
2.
Discos: 1,
2,
3.
Facebook. Steve Grossman 1969 From 'The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions' Recorded Aug '69 - Feb '70 Issued 1998 Comps below by Davis Previously unissued Previously unissued End 'The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions' Composition: Miles Davis/Joe Zawinul Album by Miles Davis: 'Big Fun' Recorded November '69 - June '72 Issued 1974 Also on 'The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions' Steve Grossman 1970 Composition: Miles Davis Album by Miles Davis: 'Miles Davis at Fillmore' Steve Grossman 1973 Filmed in France Elvin Jones Quartet 29 May '73 [per House of Drumming] Sax/flute: Dave Liebman Bass: Gene Perla Drums: Elvin Jones Composition: Dave Liebman Composition: Keiko Jones From Miles Davis' 'Black Beauty' Recorded 10 April 1970 Fillmore West San Francisco Composition: Joe Zawinul Composition: Miles Davis Steve Grossman 1974 Recorded Sep 1973 Keyboards: Jan Hammer Bass: Gene Perla Percussion: Don Alias Steve Grossman 1975 Live at the Pitt Inn Tokyo Bass: Tsutomu Okada Drums: Motohiko Hino Guitar: Kazumi Watanabe Steve Grossman 1976 Filmed with Stone Alliance Bass: Gene Perla Congas: Don Alias Composition: Stevie Wonder Composition: Don Alias Album: 'Stone Alliance' Tenor sax: Grossman Bass/piano: Gene Perla Percussion: Don Alias Steve Grossman 1977 Composition: Grossman Album: 'Terra Firma' Recorded 1975/76 Steve Grossman 1988 There Will Never Be Another You Live with Sal Nistico Music: Harry Warren 1942 Lyrics: Mack Gordon Steve Grossman 1999 Composition: Andy McKee Album: 'Quartet with Michael Petrucciani' Recorded 23-25 Jan 1998 Paris Piano: Michel Petrucciani Bass: Andy McKee Drums: Joe Farnsworth Steve Grossman 2012 Filmed with the Salvatore Tranchini Trio Composition: George Fragos/Dick Gasparre/Jack Baker Steve Grossman 2013 Filmed at the Hat Bar
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 Steve Grossman 2008 Source: All About Jazz |
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Grover Washington Jr
was born in 1943 in Buffalo, New York. His mother sang in a church choir.
Though a touch beyond the range of these histories, not appearing on vinyl
until 1971, Washington's stature as a 20th century jazz musician was and
remains too
luminous to ignore among peers on this page of his period. His father
played sax and gave Washington his first at age eight. He began playing
professionally with a couple bands in Ohio before getting drafted into the
Army to serve aside drummer,
Billy Cobham with whom he would
soon be sharing sessions on multiple occasions. Upon termination of military duty Washington headed for NYC, then
Philadelphia per 1967. Lord's disco picks him up in a sextet for organist,
Charles Earland, at the Key
Club in Newark, NJ, on September 17, 1970, for 'Living Black!' issued in
1971. That was by the Prestige label for which Washington became a studio
musician. Come Boogaloo Joe Jones Quintet for 'No Way!' on November 23,
1970, issued the next year. Pianist,
Leon Spencer's, 'Sneak Preview'
got slated on December 7th. Come 1971 for sessions with
Melvin Sparks
('Spark Plug'),
Johnny Hammond Smith,
Spencer,
Lonnie Smith ('Mama Wailer'),
Hank Crawford ('Ham') and Boogaloo
Joe Jones. In addition to Prestige Washington became a
session player with Kudu as well, a limb of CTI Records. Lord's disco
had held his initial session with that label per
Johnny Hammond's 'Break
Out' in June of 1971. Washington released his first record as a
leader in 1971 for Kudu, a 7" 45: 'Inner City Blues' bw 'Wholy Holy'. His initial
of twenty-five albums as a leader were issued in 1972: 'Inner City Blues' and 'All the
King's Horses'. 'Soul Box', his third, went down in March of 1973. Among the more important drummers along Washington's path
was
Idris Muhammad with whom
Washington is thought to have held his first session for
Spencer's 'Sneak
Preview' above in 1970 followed by
Sparks' 'Sparkplug'.
Muhammad
contributed to Washington's 'Inner City Blues' per above in '71. He also
participated in Washington's ambitiously orchestrated 'Soul Box' in 1973.
Come Washington's 'Skylarkin'' in 1979. Washington had backed
Muhammad's 'Power of Soul' in 1974 and 'My Turn' in 1991. Lord's
disco shows their last of multiple visits over the years in January of '96
for 'True Blue' and 'Old Wine New Bottles' in the Essence All Stars, those
included on 'Organic Grooves' ('96). Another of Washington's more important associates was guitar player,
Eric Gale, with whom he is thought
to have held his first mutual session for
Johnny Hammond's 'Break
Out' above in '71. They next partnered on
Hank Crawford's 'Ham' per above before
Gale
backed Washington's 'Inner City Blues' that year ('71). They remained tight into
the eighties supporting both each other and other operations, such as
percussionist, Ralph MacDonald's.
Gale emerged on eleven more of
Washington's albums to 'Inside Moves' in March of 1984. Washington
participated in Gale's 'Ginseng Woman' ('77), 'Multiplication' ('77) and
'Part of You' ('79). Among the more important bassists to populate
Washington's career had been
Ron Carter, their first
mutual session thought to have been for
Lonnie Smith's 'Mama Wailer'
per above
in July of 1971.
Carter and Washington supported numerous bands
together from
Hank Crawford's ('Ham') to
Kenny Burrell's and T.S. Monk's. Along
the way
Carter provided rhythm on Washington's debut 'Inner City
Blues' per above in 1971, "All the King's Horses' in '72, 'Soul Box' in
'73, 'Then and Now' in '88 and 'Aria' on August 17 of '99, that Washington's
final album. That same month on an unknown date Washington had participated
in 'They Say' found on the album by various, 'Secret Ellington'. Washington died prematurely at age 56 in NYC of
heart attack on December 17 of 1999 between sets of a show he was doing for
CBS, 'The Saturday Early Show' [obits: 1,
2,
3,
4]. His last performance only moments before his
death is below. Washington's favored saxophones were the expensive black
nickel-plated Keilworths. References: 1,
2,
3,
4.
Discos: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6, Lord (216 sessions).
Compilations: 'Grover Washington Jr. At His Best' 1985: 1,
2;
'20th Century Masters: The Best of Grover Washington Jr.: The Millennium Collection' 2000:
1,
2. Grover Washington 1970 From Leon Spencer's 'Sneak Preview!' Composition: Leo Nocentelli Composition: Leon Spencer Grover Washington 1971 From 'Inner City Blues' Composition: Hoagy Carmichael/Stuart Gorrell Composition: Marvin Gaye/James Nyx Jr. Grover Washington 1975 Composition: Ralph MacDonald Album: 'Mister Magic' Grover Washington 1979 Composition: Grover Washington Jr. Album: 'Paradise' Grover Washington 1980 Grover Washington 1981 Concert filmed in Philadelphia PA Grover Washington 1990 Composition: Will Smith (Fresh Prince) Jeffrey Allen Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) Album: 'The Groove (Jazzy's Groove)' Grover Washington 1999 Tony Williams Scholarship Festival Filmed with Fathead Newman Final performance day of death
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 Grover Washington Jr Source: Mr. Philly |
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We pause this history of modern jazz saxophone in the United States from 1960 to 1970 with Grover Washington Jr. |
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