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Transition Records
Transition Records was a jazz record company and label based in Cambridge, Massachusetts established by Tom Wilson in 1955. A short lived label, Transition announced several albums which were left unreleased, including recordings by Jo Mapes, Yusef Lateef, Pepper Adams and Curtis Fuller, Charles Mingus, Jay Migliori, and Sheila Jordan. The master for ''Here Comes Louis Smith'' (1958) by trumpeter Louis Smith was sold to Blue Note Records, while an unissued Sun Ra recording made by Transition was later released in 1968 by Delmark Records as '' Sound of Joy.'' A 1955 session featuring Pepper Adams and John Coltrane was recorded by Transition, but only one song was released on their compilation ''Jazz in Transition'' (1956). The recordings were later issued by Blue Note on ''High Step ''High Step'' is a jazz double album credited to bassist Paul Chambers and saxophonist John Coltrane, issued in 1975 on Blue Note Records, catalogue BN-LA451. It is a compilation taken from the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Wilson (producer)
Thomas Blanchard Wilson Jr. (March 25, 1931 – September 6, 1978) was an American record producer best known for his work in the 1960s with Bob Dylan, the Mothers of Invention, Simon & Garfunkel, the Velvet Underground, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Eddie Harris, Nico, Eric Burdon and the Animals, the Blues Project, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and others. Early life and education Wilson was born in Waco, Texas on March 25, 1931, to parents Thomas and Fannie Wilson (''née'' Brown). He attended A.J. Moore High School in Waco and was a member of New Hope Baptist Church. Wilson attended Fisk University before transferring to Harvard University, where he became involved in the Harvard New Jazz Society, radio station WHRB, and was president of the Young Republicans. He graduated ''cum laude'' from Harvard in 1954. Career After university, Wilson borrowed $500 () to set up Transition Records, having a goal in mind of setting up a record label and recording the most advanced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the Delmar imprint. History Born in 1932 in Wichita, Kansas, Bob Koester was the son of a petroleum engineer. While in the hospital with polio when he was a child, he listened to the radio and was cheered up when he heard Eddie Condon and Benny Goodman. In his teens, he was a dedicated jazz fan who began buying old records from a Salvation Army store. At concerts in Kansas City, he heard Red Allen, Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing, Tommy Douglas, Lionel Hampton, and Jay McShann. Moving from Wichita to St. Louis to attend college, Koester began his career as a record trader in his dormitory room. Joining a local jazz club gave Koester his first taste of live jazz, seeing Clark Terry per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doug Watkins
Douglas Watkins (March 2, 1934 – February 5, 1962) was an American jazz double bassist. He was best known for being an accompanist to various hard bop artists in the Detroit area, including Donald Byrd and Jackie McLean. Biography Watkins was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. An original member of the Jazz Messengers, he later played in Horace Silver's quintet and freelanced with Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, and Phil Woods among others. Some of Watkins' best-known work can be heard, when as a 22-year-old, he appeared on the 1956 album ''Saxophone Colossus'' by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, with Max Roach and Tommy Flanagan. According to Horace Silver's autobiography, ''Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty'', Watkins, along with Silver, later left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers because the other members of the band at the time (Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Blakey) had serious drug problems, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz Advance
''Jazz Advance'' is the debut album by pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for the Transition label in September 1956. The album features performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy. Music The album contains three Taylor originals, three standards, and one standard-to-be, Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing", first recorded only four years before Taylor's version. This track is played "cryptically and succinctly, the lines breaking up into jagged fragments and jutting chords". "Charge 'Em Blues" is in 4/4 time. The chords and light treble playing towards the beginning of "Azure" are similar to the sound of Abdullah Ibrahim, but then "the cross-rhythmic improvised piano patterns clattering chords typical of later Taylor emerge". Reception ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' selected the album as part of its suggested "Core Collection", stating "Taylor's first record remains one of the most extraordinary debuts in jazz, and for 1956 it's an incredible effort." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex improvisation often involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His technique has been compared to percussion. Referring to the number of keys on a standard piano, Val Wilmer used the phrase "eighty-eight tuned drums" to describe Taylor's style. He has been referred to as being "like Art Tatum with contemporary-classical leanings". Early life and education Cecil Percival Taylor was born on March 25, 1929, in Long Island City, Queens, and raised in Corona, Queens. Ratliff, Ben (May 3, 2012)"Lessons From the Dean of the School of Improv" ''The New York Times''. Retrieved December 9, 2017: "I recently spoke with the 83-year-old improvising pianist Cecil Taylor for about five hours over two days. One day was at his three-story home ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill
''Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill'' is an album by trumpeter Donald Byrd recorded at Steve Fassett's Home on Beacon Hill in Boston in 1956 and originally released on Tom Wilson's Transition label in 1957.Donald Byrd discography accessed September 3, 2012 The album was later released as part of the compilation ''The Transition Sessions''. Reception In his review for , Thom Jurek stated " Byrd establishes himself here as an individual voice on the trumpet and as a leader as well... While this date may not be of interest to Byrd's soul-jazz fans, it will no doubt enlighten those who are partial to Byrd's early |
Russell Woollen
Russell Woollen (born Hartford, Connecticut January 7, 1923, died March 16, 1994) was an American keyboard artist and composer. With composer Robert Evett (1922–1975), and Robert Parris (1924–1999), he was a key figure in what might be considered a "Washington School" of composers that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. His many compositions, both vocal and instrumental, have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. Music career Woollen began his musical training with piano lessons at the age of six. Many of his relatives were active in the church choir, and within a few years he was accompanying them in family sing-alongs. This early connection with the Catholic Church and choral music made his high school choice of the Pius X, a minor seminary in New York City, a natural one. "There he signaled his intention to study for the priesthood with a focus on liturgical music."T. L. Ponick: "Seven decades of music: Tributes celebrate composer Charles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz By Sun Ra
''Jazz By Sun Ra'' (later titled ''Sun Song'') is the debut album by Sun Ra. The record label for the first pressing says "07-12-56", presumably when it was recorded. The LP originally appeared on Tom Wilson's short-lived ''Transition Records''. In the mid-1960s it was purchased (along with much of the Transition catalog) by Delmark Records owner Bob Koester, finally being reissued in 1967. When originally released, it came with an extensive booklet featuring words and photos of Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The LP featured original compositions by Sun Ra along with one by Arkestral bassist Richard Evans. Another composition by Arkestra member Julian Priester has been included in reissues from the session, and additional unreleased tracks (all Ra originals) are known to survive. The single non-Arkestral composition was ''Possession'', by Harry Revel, which had been written for Les Baxter's album ''Perfume Set to Music''; ''Possession'' was arranged for the Arkestra by the Texan pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byrd Jazz
''Byrd Jazz'' is an album by trumpeter Donald Byrd recorded in Detroit in 1955 and originally released on Tom Wilson's Transition label.Donald Byrd discography accessed September 3, 2012 The album contains Byrd's first recordings as a leader (although the sessions that comprised '' Byrd's Eye View'' were released first), and was later re-released as ''First Flight'' on the Delmark label. Reception In his review for , Scott Yanow stated "all of the music is straightah ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byrd's Eye View
''Byrd's Eye View'' is an album by trumpeter Donald Byrd recorded in 1955 and originally released on Tom Wilson's Transition label.Donald Byrd discography accessed September 3, 2012 The album was later re-released as part of the compilation CD set ''The Transition Sessions'' on the label. Reception In his review for , Jason Ankeny stated "For all intents and purposes, a Jazz Messengers session issued under Donald Byrd's name, ''Byrd's Eye View'', captures the young trumpeter in full command of his estimable powe ...[...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] |
Johnny Windhurst
John Henry Windhurst (November 5, 1926 – October 2, 1981) was an American jazz trumpet player, who played primarily in the swing, big-band, and dixieland styles. Windhurst was a self-taught musician and known for his solos; he considered Bix Beiderbecke, Bobby Hackett, Wild Bill Davison, and Bunny Berigan among his influences. His playing style was considered to be a mixture of the delicate playing style of Bobby Hackett with his own feathery vibrato and mobility. Ruby Braff has cited Windhurst as one of his biggest inspirations as a jazz artist. History At the age of 15 he played his first public performance at Nick's in New York City. Windhurst made his professional debut during the spring of 1944 at one of Eddie Condon's concerts at the Town Hall in New York City. At 18 years old, he was chosen by Sidney Bechet to play at the Savoy Cafe in Boston, replacing Bunk Johnson. Windhurst was initially recruited to the band to play the cornet. This engagement launched his career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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