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Jacques Coursil
Jacques Coursil (March 31, 1938 – June 26, 2020) was a composer, jazz trumpeter, scholar, and professor of literature, linguistics, and philosophy. Early life Coursil was born in Paris, France, of Martinican parents. At age nine, he began studying the violin, but switched to trumpet as a teenager. His earliest musical influences included classical composers such as Webern and Schoenberg, jazz, especially that of New Orleans musicians such as Albert Nicholas and Sidney Bechet, and liturgical music, as well as Martinican-influenced biguine. At the age of 14, Coursil had the opportunity to hear saxophonist Don Byas, who made a deep impression, "with a white suit, white shoes, a shiny saxophone, playing so sweetly." In 1958, Coursil left for Africa, spending three years in Mauritania and Senegal, where he befriended Léopold Sédar Senghor, politician, poet and theorist of Négritude. In 1961, he returned to France, working as a teacher and studying literature and mathematics. New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. A posthumous autobiography, on which he collaborated with Alex Haley, was published in 1965. Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. He committed various crimes, being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and burglary. In prison he joined the Nation of Islam (adopting the name MalcolmX to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the White slavemaster name of 'Little'"), and after his parole in 1952 quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Dixon
William Robert “Bill” Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer, improviser, visual artist, activist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. His was also a prominent voice arguing for artist's rights and insisting, through words and deeds, on the cultural and aesthetic richness of the African American music tradition. He played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverb. Biography Dixon hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. His family moved to Harlem, in New York City, in 1934. He enlisted in the Army in 1944; his unit served in Germany before he was discharged in 1946. His studies in music came relatively late in life, at the Hartnette Conservatory of Music (1946–1951), which he attended on the GI Bill. He studied painting at Boston University and the WPA Arts School and the Art Students League. From 1956 to 1962, he worked at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Ra
Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led "The Arkestra", an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up. Born and raised in Alabama, Blount became involved in the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. He soon abandoned his birth name, taking the name Le Sony'r Ra, shortened to Sun Ra (after Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun). Claiming to be an alien from Saturn on a mission to preach peace, he developed a mythical persona and an idiosyncratic credo that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism. Throughout his life he denied ties to his prior identity saying, "Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." His widely eclectic and avant-garde music echoed the entire history of jazz, from ragtime and ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ave B Free Jam
''Ave B Free Jam'' is a live album by drummer Laurence Cook, trumpeters Jacques Coursil and Warren Gale, clarinetist Perry Robinson, and bassist Steve Tintweiss. Consisting of a continuous, extended free improvisation, it was recorded on May 12, 1967, in New York City, and was issued on CD in 2021 by Inky Dot Media. Reception In a review for ''The New York City Jazz Record'', Pierre Crépon described the album as "a leaderless collective free improvisation devoid of themes or structure, elements that long remained staples of the avant garde when presented publicly," and wrote: "This is free playing of the busy kind, with nearly continuous contributions from all participants... The extended length gives the impression that what is being heard is an unedited version of what would have been trimmed down live... but when the musicians hit, they hit." George W. Harris of ''Jazz Weekly'' noted that the album "gives an aural history of what the free jazz movement of the time was all abo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perry Robinson
Perry Morris Robinson (September 17, 1938 – December 2, 2018) was an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He was the son of composer Earl Robinson. Early life and education Robinson was born and grew up in New York City. He attended the Lenox School of Jazz in Massachusetts in mid-1959. Career Robinson served in a U.S. military band in the early-1960s. His first record, ''Funk Dumpling'' (with Kenny Barron, Henry Grimes, and Paul Motian) was recorded by Savoy in 1962. He also appeared with Grimes on ''The Call'' in 1965, on the ESP-Disk label (ESP 1026). Although the album is credited to "Henry Grimes Trio" the album liner notes, written by ESP-Disk label head Bernard Stollman, stated: " rimeschose Perry Robinson, a virtuoso who merits far wider recognition, to pair with, and this recording reflects both of their contributions, in equal measure. A more accurate title for the album would be Henry Grimes/Perry Robinson." Two of the album's six songs are credited to Robinso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation''. His pioneering performances often abandoned the chordal and harmony-based structure found in bebop, instead emphasizing a jarring and avant-garde approach to improvisation. AllMusic called him "one of the most important (and controversial) innovators of the jazz avant-garde". Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Coleman began his musical career playing in local R&B and bebop groups, and eventually formed his own group in Los Angeles featuring members such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. In 1959, he released the controversial album ''The Shape of Jazz to Come'' and began a long residency at the Five Spot jazz club in New York City. His 1960 album ''Free Jazz'' would profoundly influence the di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Marshall
Edwin "Eddie" Marshall (April 13, 1938 – September 7, 2011 ) was an American drummer. Biography Marshall was born in . He played in his father's swing group and in R&B bands while in high school. He moved to New York City in 1956, developing his percussion style under the influence of |
Marion Brown
Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai. He performed on Coltrane's landmark 1965 album '' Ascension''. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow described him as "one of the brightest and most lyrical voices of the 1960s avant-garde." Biography Early life Brown, the grandson of an escaped slave from Georgia's Sea Islands, was born in Atlanta in 1931 and was raised by a single mother. He began studying the saxophone at an early age, inspired by Charlie Parker. He left high school in the 10th grade and joined the army. During his three-year enlistment, he played alto saxophone, clarinet, and baritone saxophone, and was stationed in Hokkaido for some time. In 1956, he returned to Atlanta and enrolled at Clark College, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Your Prayer
''Your Prayer'' is the second album by saxophonist Frank Wright. It was recorded in May 1967 in New York City and was released by ESP-Disk later that year. On the album, Wright is joined by saxophonist Arthur Jones, trumpeter Jacques Coursil, bassist Steve Tintweiss, and drummer Muhammad Ali. The tracks were reissued in 2005 on the Frank Wright compilation ''The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings''. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote: "For his second and final ESP date as a leader, avant-garde tenor saxophonist Frank Wright teams up with four little-known players... for passionate explorations of four of his originals plus Jones' 'The Lady.' Rather intense at times, these emotional performances... still sound groundbreaking three decades later. One of Frank Wright's finest recordings." Writing for Stereogum, Michael Nelson commented: "The other horns treat the melodies like fanfares, announcing Wright before he steps up for a fierce solo, but on pieces like 'No End' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ESP-Disk
ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP became the most important exponent of what is commonly referred to as free jazz. Early releases included albums by Paul Bley, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. ESP also released recordings by uncommercial underground rock acts including the Fugs, The Godz and Pearls Before Swine. The label's motto is "The artists alone decide what you will hear." Bernard Stollman faced allegations of not paying royalties to the artists that were signed to ESP-Disk. Tom Rapp of the band Pearls Before Swine claimed that: "We never got any money from ESP. Never, not even like a hundred dollars or something. My real sense is that he tollmanwas abducted by aliens, and when he was probed it erased his memory of where all the money was". Peter Stampfel of the band Holy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunny Murray (album)
''Sunny Murray'', also known as ''Sunny Murray Quintet'', is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, his second as a leader. It was recorded in New York City in January, 1966, and released on the ESP-Disk label. The album features Murray on drums along with alto saxophonists Byard Lancaster and Jack Graham, trumpeter Jacques Coursil, and bassist Alan Silva. A remastered version, which includes an interview between Murray and ESP founder Bernard Stollman, was issued by ESP-Disk in 2007. According to Murray, he used a thirty-six-inch bass drum on the album "because there's something about that instrument that homogenizes the group." Murray recalled that he met Coursil at a restaurant after saxophonist Clarence Sharpe recommended that he speak with the dishwasher: "There's a cat works in the kitchen. He's pretty good, Murray. You ought to check him out." Following the release of the album, Murray was awarded DownBeat magazine's "New Star" award in the drum category ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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