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Larry Gray
Larry Gray is a Chicago musician known for his compositions and skill on the double bass and cello. His primary teachers were Joseph Guastafeste, longtime principal bassist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Karl Fruh.University of Illinois at Chicago biography page foLarry Gray Family Gray was born to Pauline Waterman and Lawrence Gray. He has been married to Karolyn R. Kuehner since 1990. They have one daughter, Soffia H. Kuehner Gray. Music style Originally a jazz guitarist, Gray switched to double bass and developed a reputation as a first-call sideman. Within a short time, he began to work at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, where he appeared with drummer Wilbur Campbell and pianist Willie Pickens. Throughout the years he has worked with George Coleman, Lee Konitz, Bobby Hutcherson, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Fortune, Ira Sullivan, Junior Mance, David "Fathead" Newman, Charles McPherson, Branford Marsalis, Benny Golson, Jackie McLean, Sonny Stitt, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Island
Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 at the 2020 United States Census. Blue Island was established in the 1830s as a way station for settlers traveling on the Vincennes Trace, and the settlement prospered because it was conveniently situated a day's journey outside of Chicago. The late-nineteenth-century historian and publisher Alfred T. Andreas made the following observation regarding the appearance of the young community in ''History of Cook County Illinois'' (1884), "The location of Blue Island Village is a beautiful one. Nowhere about Chicago is there to be found a more pleasant and desirable resident locality." Since its founding, the city has been an important commercial center in the south Cook County region, although its position in that respect has been eclipsed i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Golson
Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career. Golson is known for co-founding and co-leading The Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer in 1959. From the late 1960s through the 1970s Golson was in demand as an arranger for film and television and thus was less active as a performer, but he and Farmer re-formed the Jazztet in 1982. In addition to " I Remember Clifford", many of Golson's compositions have become jazz standards including "Blues March", " Whisper Not", and "Killer Joe". Biography While in high school in Philadelphia, Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and Red Rodney. After graduating from Howard University, Golson joined Bull Moose Jackson's rhythm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry "Sweets" Edison
Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard backing singers, most notably Frank Sinatra. Biography Edison was born in Columbus, Ohio, United States. He spent his early childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, being introduced to music by an uncle. After moving back to Columbus at the age of twelve, the young Edison began playing the trumpet with local bands. In 1933, he became a member of the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland. Afterwards, he played with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band and Lucky Millinder. In 1937, he moved to New York and joined the Count Basie Orchestra. His colleagues included Buck Clayton, Lester Young (who named him "Sweets"), Buddy Tate, Freddie Green, Jo Jones, and other original members of that famous band. Speaking in 1956 with ''Down Beat's'' Don Freeman, Edison explai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop musicians who successfully explored funk and soul while remaining a jazz artist. As a bandleader, Byrd was an influence on the early career of Herbie Hancock. Biography Early life and career Byrd was born in 1932 in Detroit, Michigan. His family came from the African-American middle-class. His father, Elijah Thomas Byrd, was a Methodist minister who greatly valued education and oversaw his son's schooling. His mother, Cornelia Taylor, introduced Byrd to jazz music and it was her brother who gave Byrd his first trumpet. He attended Cass Technical High School. He performed with Lionel Hampton before finishing high school. During this period, his first professional recording session was in 1949 at Fortune Records in Detroit with the Robert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie, Alice Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and John Scofield, DeJohnette was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2007. He has won two GRAMMY awards and been nominated for five others. Biography Early life and musical beginnings DeJohnette was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Jack DeJohnette (1911–2011) and Eva Jeanette DeJohnette (née Wood, 1918–1984).Stephen L. Barnhart, ''Percussionists: a Biographical Dictionary'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 88. Although of predominantly African American heritage, he has stated that he has some Native American ancestry, specifically Seminole and Crow. He began his musical career as a pianist, studying from age four and first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Thigpen
Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Thigpen was raised in Los Angeles, California, and attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon and Chico Hamilton also attended. After majoring in sociology at Los Angeles City College, Thigpen returned to East St. Louis for one year to pursue music while living with his father who had been playing with Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy. His father, Ben Thigpen, was a drummer who played with Andy Kirk for sixteen years during the 1930s and 1940s. Thigpen first worked professionally in New York City with the Cootie Williams orchestra from 1951 to 1952 at the Savoy Ballroom. During this time he played with musicians such as Dinah Washington, Gil Mellé, Oscar Pettiford, Eddie V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. As Steve Rochinski notes, "Of all the guitarists to emerge in the first generation after Charlie Christian, Tal Farlow, more than any other, has been able to move beyond the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic vocabulary associated with the early electric guitar master. Tal's incredible speed, long, weaving lines, rhythmic excitement, highly developed harmonic sense, and enormous reach (both physical and musical) have enabled him to create a style that clearly stands apart from the rest." Where guitarists of his day combined rhythmic chords with linear melodies, Farlow placed single notes together in clusters, varying between harmonically enriched tones. As music critic Stuart Nicholson put it, "In terms of guitar prowess, it was the equivalent of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile."Stuart Nichol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Pass
Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, and is often heralded as one of the most unique and notable jazz guitarists of the 20th century. Early life Pass was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, on January 13, 1929. His father, Mariano Passalaqua, was a steel mill worker who was born in Sicily. The family later moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Pass became interested in the guitar after he saw Gene Autry on television. He got his first guitar when he was nine. He took guitar lessons every Sunday with a local teacher for 6-8 months and also practiced for many hours each day. Pass found work as a performer as early as age 14. He played with bands led by Tony Pastor (bandleader), Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet, honing his guitar skills while learning the ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ''Billboard'' Top Twenty hit Verve album '' Organ Grinder Swing''. He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.Cohassey, John. "Kenny Burrell: Guitarist, Educator." ''Contemporary Musicians. Profiles of the People in Music.'' Ed. Julia M. Rubiner. Vol. 11. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1994. 29–31. PrintNash, Sunny. "Kenny Burrell Biography." ''PRLog,'' May 13, 2009. Burrell is a professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Early life Burrell was born in Detroit. Both his parents played instruments,Sallis, James. "Middle Ground: Herb Ellis, Howard Roberts, Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les McCann
Leslie Coleman McCann (born September 23, 1935) is an American jazz pianist and vocalist.Feather, Leonard, and Ira Gitler (2007), ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 448. Oxford University Press. Early life Les McCann was born in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. He grew up in a musical family of four, a brother and three sisters with most of McCann's family singing in church choirs. His father was a fan of jazz music and his mother was known to hum opera around the house. As a youth, he played the tuba and drums and performed in his school's marching band. As a pianist McCann, was largely self-taught. He explained he only received piano lessons for a few weeks as a six-year-old before his teacher died. Career During his service in the U.S. Navy, McCann won a singing contest which led to an appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. After leaving the Navy, McCann moved to California and played in his own trio. He declined an offer to work in Cannonball Adderley's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known compositions are "Freedom Jazz Dance", popularized by Miles Davis in 1966, and "Listen Here". Biography Harris was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, United States. His father was from Cuba and his mother from Mississippi. He studied music under Walter Dyett at DuSable High School, as had many other successful Chicago musicians (such as Nat King Cole, Clifford Jordan, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, Julian Priester, and others). He later studied music at Roosevelt University, by which time he was proficient on piano, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. While in college, he performed professionally with Gene Ammons. After college, Harris was drafted into the United States Army and while serving in Europe, he was accepted into the 7th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Cohn
Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist Zoot Sims. Biography Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to his work as a jazz tenor saxophonist, Cohn was widely respected as an arranger. His work included the Broadway productions of ''Raisin and ''Sophisticated Ladies'', and his arrangements of his own compositions were recorded by big bands led by Maynard Ferguson, Gerry Mulligan, Terry Gibbs and Bob Brookmeyer. Also, Cohn did arrangements for unreleased Linda Ronstadt recordings from the 1980s. Cohn also appeared on stage with Elvis Presley in June, 1972, as a member of the Joe Malin Orchestra at Madison Square Garden. Al Cohn died of liver cancer in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in 1988. Cohn's first wife was singer Marilyn Moore. His son, Joe Cohn, is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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