George Mraz
George Mraz (born Jiří Mráz; 9 September 1944 – 16 September 2021) was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stephane Grappelli, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Raney, Chet Baker, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, and Richie Beirach, among others. During the 1970s, he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and in the 1980s a member of Quest. He also appeared with Joe Lovano, Hank Jones and Paul Motian on Lovano's records '' I'm All For You'' and '' Joyous Encounter''. Discography As leader/co-leader * 1977: ''Alone Together'' with Masaru Imada ( Three Blind Mice) * 1992: ''Catching Up'' * 1995: ''Jazz'' with Richie Beirach, Billy Hart, Larry Willis, Rich Perry * 1995: ''My Foolish Heart'' with Richie Beirach, Billy Hart * 1997: ''Bottom Lines'' with Cyrus Chestnut, Al Foster, Rich Perry * 1999 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jimmy Raney
James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and, during the same time period, with Stan Getz. In 1954 and 1955, he won the ''DownBeat'' Critics' Poll for guitar. Raney worked in a variety of jazz mediums, including cool jazz, bebop, post bop, hard bop, and mainstream jazz. In 1946, he worked for a time as guitarist with the Max Miller Quartet at Elmer's in Chicago, his first paying gig. Raney also worked in the Artie Shaw Orchestra and collaborated with Woody Herman for nine months in 1948. He also collaborated and recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig and later on with Bob Brookmeyer. In 1967, alcoholism and other professional difficulties led him to leave New York City and return to his native Louisville. He resurfaced in the 1970s and also did work with his son Doug, who was also ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Three Blind Mice (record Label)
Three Blind Mice is a Japanese jazz record label founded in June 1970 as a showcase for Japan's emerging jazz performers. It has produced more than 130 albums have been released since. So far they have won the Jazz Disc Award five times in Japan. Produced by Takeshi Fujii (producer) and often recorded by the Yoshihiko Kannari, TBM created jazz records by Japanese players since the 1970s and became known for its audiophile sound quality. TBM's records captured a very important, vibrant era in the development of Japanese jazz. Stars like Isao Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, George Kawaguchi, Terumasa Hino and Mari Nakamoto recorded their very first albums with the label. Artists also include Shuko Mizuno's "Jazz Orchestra '73", Toshiyuko Miyama and Masaru Imada. Discography *TBM-1 Kosuke Mine Quintet -Mine (LP) 1970 *TBM-2 Masaru Imada Quartet -NOW! (LP) 1970 *TBM-3 Takao Uematsu Quartet/Quintet -Debut (LP) 1970 *TBM-4 Kosuke Mine Quintet -2nd Album (LP) 1970 *TBM-5 Alb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Masaru Imada
is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer. Life and career Imada was born in Tokyo on 21 March 1932. He had classical piano lessons. He played jazz in student bands while a student at Meiji University, after which he worked in business for a year. He then decided to pursue music professionally. From 1953 he was part of clarinetist Eiji Kitamura Eiji Kitamura ja, 北村 英治 (born April 8, 1929) is a Japanese jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist originally from Tokyo who made his debut at the age of 22. Kitamura devoted himself to clarinet playing while still an undergraduate at Ke ...'s band. Imada had his own trio from 1964. He formed Now'in, a fusion band, in 1984. He played internationally at jazz festivals from the 1970s. Discography An asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release. As leader/co-leader References {{DEFAULTSORT:Imada, Masaru 1932 births Japanese jazz pianists Living people Musicians from Tokyo 21st-century pianists ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joyous Encounter
''Joyous Encounter'' is a 2005 studio album by American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano. The album features the same personnel as Lovano's 2004 recording ''I'm All For You''; bassist George Mraz, drummer Paul Motian, and pianist Hank Jones. Reception John Fordham, writing for ''The Guardian'' commented:: "This new set features more originals by Lovano and the Jones family (one from Hank, three from the late trumpet player Thad) and the same immaculate playing quality. Lovano is at his smoke-ring-blowing best on Autumn in New York, and he amiably swerves and feints on his own fast-bop Bird's Eye View. With Oliver Nelson's obliquely funky, deviously modulating blues Six and Four and John Coltrane's slowly explosive Crescent, the set probably even has a bit more bounce and energy to it than last year's version". Paul Olson of All About Jazz noted: "With the passing of Jones' other brother, Elvin, it's no outrageous statement to call Motian the greatest living jazz drummer: one suspects h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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I'm All For You
''I'm All For You'' is a ballads-oriented album by Joe Lovano, which critics have called one of his most enjoyable endeavors. The album features Hank Jones as well as two members who have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Lovano: George Mraz and Paul Motian. Reception David Franklin of ''JazzTimes'' wrote "I'm for You: Ballad Songbook (Blue Note) teams him with the veteran pianist Hank Jones (elder brother of Elvin and Thad) and the superb bassist and drummer George Mraz and Paul Motian on a project that explores the possibilities that slower tunes offer to be 'rhythmically diverse and free within the music' while at the same time sustaining the mood of the piece." Track listing # "I'm All for You" - 7:50 # " Don't Blame Me" - 7:51 # "Monk's Mood" - 4:01 # "The Summary (A Suite for Pops)" - 5:16 # " Stella by Starlight" - 5:47 # "I Waited for You" - 9:28 # "Like Someone in Love" - 6:50 # "Early Autumn" - 7:31 # "Countdown" - 4:38 Personnel *Hank Jones - piano *Joe Lovano ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paul Motian
Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later was a regular in pianist Keith Jarrett's band for about a decade (c. 1967–1976). Motian began his career as a bandleader in the early 1970s. Perhaps his two most notable groups were a longstanding trio of guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano, and the Electric Bebop Band where he worked mostly with younger musicians on interpretations of bebop standards. Biography Motian was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. He was of Armenian descent. After playing guitar in his childhood, Motian began playing the drums at age 12, eventually touring New England in a swing band. During the Korean War he joined the Navy. Motian became a professiona ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hank Jones
Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award. He was also honored in 2003 with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award. In 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. On April 13, 2009, the University of Hartford presented Jones with an honorary Doctorate of Music for his musical accomplishments. Jones recorded more than 60 albums under his own name, and countless others as a sideman, including Cannonball Adderley's celebrated album '' Somethin' Else''. On May 19, 1962, he played piano as actress Marilyn Monroe sang her famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" song to then U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Biography Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Henry "Hank" Jones moved to Pontiac, Michiga ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. He has earned a Grammy Award and several mentions on ''Down Beat'' magazine's critics' and readers' polls. His wife, with whom he records and performs, is singer Judi Silvano. Lovano was a longtime member of drummer Paul Motian‘s trio with guitarist Bill Frisell. Biography Early life Lovano was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, to Sicilian-American parents; his father was the tenor saxophonist Tony ("Big T") Lovano. His father's family came from Alcara Li Fusi in Sicily, and his mother's family came from Cesarò, also in Sicily. In Cleveland, Lovano's father exposed him to jazz throughout his early life, teaching him the standards, as well as how to lead a gig, pace a set, and be versatile enough to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richie Beirach
Richard Alan Beirach (born 23 May 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Beirach was born in New York City. He initially studied both classical music and jazz. While still attending high school, he took lessons from pianist Lennie Tristano. Beirach later entered the Berklee College of Music. After one year, he left Berklee and began attending the Manhattan School of Music. While there, he studied with Ludmilla Ulehla. In 1972, he graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Master's Degree in Music Theory and Composition. Career In 1972 Beirach began working with Stan Getz. He also worked with Chet Baker. Beirach has maintained an ongoing musical partnership with David Liebman from the late-1960s to the present in the groups Lookout Farm and Quest. In addition, Liebman and Beirach have frequently performed and recorded as a duo. Several of Beirach's compositions – "Leaving" and "Elm", for instance – have found their way into the jazz standard re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Scofield
John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the band of Miles Davis, and has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists, including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummer Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov’t Mule. Biography Scofield was born in Ohio but, when he was still a baby, his family moved to Wilton, Connecticut, where he discovered his interest in music. Educated at the Berklee College of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |