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Epitaph (Charles Mingus Album)
''Epitaph'' is a composition by jazz musician Charles Mingus. It is 4,235 measures long, takes more than two hours to perform, and was only completely discovered during the cataloguing process after his death. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation, the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the work itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller and produced by Mingus's widow, Sue, at Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989, 10 years after his death, and issued as a live album. It was performed again at several concerts in 2007. Accurately convinced that it would never be performed in his lifetime, Mingus called his work ''Epitaph'' declaring that it was written "for my tombstone." 1962 version There was one ill-fated attempt to record some of "Epitaph" during Mingus's lifetime, in New York City on October 12, 1962. The album '' The Complete Town Hall Concert'' (United Artists UAJ 14024) includes the tracks "Epitaph Pt. I" and "Epitaph Pt. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history,See the 1998 documentary ''Triumph of the Underdog'' with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock. Mingus' compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition. In 1993, the Library of Congress acquired Mingus' collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernie Royal
Ernest Andrew Royal (June 2, 1921 in Los Angeles, California – March 16, 1983 in New York City) was a jazz trumpeter. His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording '' The Genius of Ray Charles'' (1959). Career He began in Los Angeles as a member of Les Hite's Orchestra in 1937. In the following 20 years he would work with Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Wardell Gray, Stan Kenton and recording as a member of the Charles Mingus Octet, with Teo Macero, John Lewis and Kenny Clarke, among others, in 1953. He led ten albums, most of them recorded in Paris. In 1957 he became a staff musician for the American Broadcasting Company. He went on to play in The Tonight Show Band and can be heard on the Miles Davis albums '' Miles Ahead'' (1957), ''Porgy and Bess'' (1958), and ''Sketches of Spain'' (1960). Death A resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, Royal died of cancer at a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grady Tate
Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017) was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated '' Schoolhouse Rock!'' series. Biography Tate was born in Hayti, Durham, North Carolina, United States. In 1963 he moved to New York City, where he became the drummer in Quincy Jones's band. Grady Tate's drumming helped to define a particular hard bop, soul jazz and organ trio sound during the mid-1960s and beyond. His slick, layered and intense sound is instantly recognizable for its understated style in which he integrates his trademark subtle nuances with sharp, crisp "on top of the beat" timing (in comparison to playing slightly before, or slightly after the beat). The Grady Tate sound can be heard prominently on many of the classic Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery albums recorded on the Verve label in the 1960s. During the 1970s he was a member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dannie Richmond
Charles Daniel Richmond (December 15, 1931 – March 16, 1988) was an American jazz drummer who is best known for his work with Charles Mingus. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond. Biography Richmond was born Charles Daniel Richmond on December 15, 1931, in New York City and grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina. He started playing tenor saxophone at the age of thirteen, and went on to play R&B with the Paul Williams band in 1955. His career took off when he took up the drums, in his early twenties, through the formation of what was to be a 21-year association with Charles Mingus. Mingus biographer Brian Priestley writes that "Dannie became Mingus's equivalent to Harry Carney in the Ellington band, an indispensable ingredient of 'the Mingus sound' and a close friend as well". That association continued after Mingus' death when Richmond became the first musical director of the group Mingus Dynasty in 1980. He died of a heart attack in Harlem on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milt Hinton
Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer. Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the road with Cab Calloway, and "The Judge" from the 1950s and beyond. Hinton's recording career lasted over 60 years, mostly in jazz but also with a variety of other genres as a prolific session musician. He was also a photographer of note, praised for documenting American jazz during the 20th Century. Biography Early life in Mississippi (1910–1919) Hinton was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States, the only child of Hilda Gertrude Robinson, whom he referred to as "Titter," and Milton Dixon Hinton. He was three-months-old when his father left the family. He grew up in a home with his mother, his maternal grandmother (a former slave of Joe Davis, the brother of Jefferson Davis), and two of his mother's sisters. His childhood in V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaki Byard
John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz. Byard played with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was a member of bands led by bassist Charles Mingus for several years, including on several studio and concert recordings. The first of his recordings as a leader was in 1960, but, despite being praised by critics, his albums and performances did not gain him much wider attention. In his 60-year career, Byard recorded at least 35 albums as leader, and more than 50 as a sideman. Byard's influence on the music comes from his combining of musical styles during performance, and his parallel career in teaching. From 1969 Byard was heavily involved in jazz education: he began teachi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toshiko Akiyoshi
is a Japanese–American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in ''Down Beat'' magazine's annual Readers' Poll. In 1984, she was the subject of the documentary '' Jazz Is My Native Language''. In 1996, she published her autobiography, ''Life with Jazz'', and in 2007 she was named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts. Biography Akiyoshi was born in Liaoyang, Manchuria, to Japanese colonists, the youngest of four sisters. In 1945, after World War II, Akiyoshi's family lost their home and returned to Japan, settling in Beppu. A local record collector introduced her to jazz by playing a record of Teddy Wilson playing "Sweet Lorraine." She immediately loved the sound and began to study jazz. In 1952, during a tour of Japan, pianist Oscar Peterson discovered her playing in a club on the Ginza. Peterson was impressed and convinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Spann
Leslie Spann Jr. (May 23, 1932 – January 24, 1989) was an American jazz guitarist and flautist. As a sideman he recorded with Nat Adderley, Benny Bailey, Bill Coleman, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Curtis Fuller, Red Garland, Benny Goodman, Sam Jones, Abbey Lincoln, Charles Mingus, Duke Pearson, Jerome Richardson, Charlie Shavers, Sonny Stitt, Billy Taylor, Randy Weston, and Ben Webster. As a leader he recorded only once, the album ''Gemini'' in 1961. Career Les Spann was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. From 1950 to 1957, he studied music at Tennessee State University. At the end of that time he worked with Phineas Newborn Jr. and in 1958 with Ronnell Bright. The following year, he joined a quintet in New York City led by Dizzy Gillespie, performing solos on flute and guitar and appearing on two of Gillespie's albums for Verve Records. After a year with Gillespie, he went to Europe as a member of Quincy Jones's big band. Two more albums followed, this time with Spann jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Smith (jazz Musician)
Warren Smith (born May 14, 1934) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist, known as a contributor to Max Roach's M'boom ensemble and leader of the Composer's Workshop Ensemble ( Strata-East). Biography Smith was born May 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, to a musical family. His father played saxophone and clarinet with Noble Sissle and Jimmie Noone, and his mother was a harpist and pianist. At the age of four, Smith studied clarinet with his father. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1957, then received a master's degree in percussion from the Manhattan School of Music in 1958. He found work in Broadway pit bands in 1958, and also played with Gil Evans that year. In 1961, he co-founded the Composers Workshop Ensemble. In the 1960s, Smith accompanied Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Lloyd Price, and Nat King Cole; he worked with Sam Rivers from 1964–1976 and with Gil Evans again from 1968 to 1976. In 1969, he played with Janis Joplin and in 1971 with King Curtis a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britt Woodman
Britt Woodman (June 4, 1920 – October 13, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist. Career Woodman was a childhood friend of Charles Mingus, but first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Raeburn before joining with Lionel Hampton in 1946. During the 1950s he worked with Ellington. As a member of Ellington's band he can be heard on '' Such Sweet Thunder'' (1957), ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book'' (also 1957), '' Black, Brown, and Beige'' (1958) and '' Ellington Indigos'' (1958). In 1960 he left Ellington to work in a pit orchestra. Later he worked with Mingus and can be heard on the album ''Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus'' (1963). In the 1970s, he led his own octet and worked with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. In 1989, he was in the personnel for the album ''Epitaph'' dedicated to the previously unrecorded music of Charles Mingus. He died in Hawthorne, California at the age of 80, having suffered severe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Jackson
Quentin "Butter" JacksonFeather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' , US, 2007 (January 13, 1909 – October 2, 1976) was an American jazz trombonist. Career In the early stage of his career, Jackson worked with Cab Calloway for ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Dennis
Willie Dennis (née William DeBerardinis, January 10, 1926 – July 8, 1965) was an American jazz trombonist known as a big band musician but who was also an excellent bebop soloist. Career After working with Elliot Lawrence, Claude Thornhill, and Sam Donahue, Dennis also performed with Charles Mingus, appearing on two of Mingus's albums in 1959, ''Blues & Roots'' and ''Mingus Ah Um.'' In 1953, Dennis recorded ''Four Trombones'' (released in 1957) for Mingus's Debut Records. The other three trombones were J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding and Bennie Green. In 1951, Dennis began studying with Lennie Tristano. To make ends meet, he worked as an attendant at the Museum of Modern Art. The fullest recorded example of Dennis's solo work is on a little-known 1956 Savoy disc by English pianist Ronnie Ball (also a student of Tristano), ''All About Ronnie'', in the company of Ted Brown and Kenny Clarke. Dennis toured with Mingus in 1956. He published an essay, "The History of the Trombo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
