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Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American
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 ...
trumpeter and
flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
player. He also played
flumpet The Flumpet is a hybrid brass instrument that shares the construction and timbral qualities of a trumpet and flugelhorn. The Flumpet was invented for Art Farmer by David Monette and is currently in production by Monette. The Flumpet is in the ke ...
, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double bassist Addison Farmer, started playing professionally while in high school. Art gained greater attention after the release of a recording of his composition "Farmer's Market" in 1952. He subsequently moved from Los Angeles to New York, where he performed and recorded with musicians such as
Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sc ...
,
Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...
, and
Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 14, 1983), later Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing career was relatively short, ...
and became known principally as a
bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
player. As Farmer's reputation grew, he expanded from bebop into more experimental forms through working with composers such as George Russell and
Teddy Charles Teddy Charles (April 13, 1928 – April 16, 2012) was an American jazz musician and composer, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums. Career Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, United States, he ...
. He went on to join
Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...
's quartet and, with
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 launch ...
, to co-found
the Jazztet The Jazztet was a jazz sextet, co-founded in 1959 by trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, always featuring the founders along with a trombonist and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. In its first phase, the Jazztet lasted unt ...
. Continuing to develop his own sound, Farmer switched from trumpet to the warmer flugelhorn in the early 1960s, and he helped to establish the flugelhorn as a soloist's instrument in jazz.Feather, Leonard (March 30, 1990
"Jazz Review: Art Farmer's Fluegelhorn of Plenty"
''Los Angeles Times''.
He settled in Europe in 1968 and continued to tour internationally until his death. Farmer recorded more than 50 albums under his own name, a dozen with the Jazztet, and dozens more with other leaders. His playing is known for its individuality – most noticeably, its lyricism, warmth of tone and sensitivity.


Early life

Art Farmer was born an hour before his twin brother, on August 21, 1928, in
Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...
, reportedly at 2201 Fourth Avenue. Their parents, James Arthur Farmer and Hazel Stewart Farmer, divorced when the boys were four, and their steelworker father was killed in a work accident not long after this. Art moved with his grandfather, grandmother, mother, brother and sister to
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
when he was still four."Art Farmer: NEA Jazz Master (1999)"
(June 29–30, 1995) Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program NEA Jazz Master interview.
He started to play the piano while in elementary school, then moved on to bass tuba and violin before settling on cornet and then trumpet at the age of thirteen.Bryant, Clora (1998) ''Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles''. University of California Press. His family was musical: most of them played as a hobby, and one was a professional trombonist. Art's grandfather was a minister in the
African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...
. This influenced Farmer's first choice of instrument, as his mother played piano for the church choir. The bass tuba was for use in a marching band and was Farmer's instrument for a year, until a cornet became available. Phoenix schools were segregated, and no one at Farmer's school could provide useful music lessons. He taught himself to read music and practiced his new main instrument, the trumpet. Farmer and his brother moved to Los Angeles in 1945, attending the music-oriented Jefferson High School, where they got music instruction and met other developing musicians such as
Sonny Criss William "Sonny" Criss (23 October 1927 – 19 November 1977) was an American jazz musician. An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker. Biography William Criss wa ...
,
Ernie Andrews Ernest Mitchell Andrews Jr. (December 25, 1927 – February 21, 2022) was an American jazz, blues, and pop singer. Life and career Andrews was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Los Angeles, and is said to have been discovered by ...
, Big Jay McNeely, and
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. Biograp ...
. The brothers earned money by working in a cold-storage warehouse and by playing professionally. Art started playing trumpet professionally at the age of 16, performing in the bands of Horace Henderson,
Jimmy Mundy James Mundy (June 28, 1907 – April 24, 1983) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Earl Hines. Mundy died of cancer in New York City at the age of 75 ...
, and Floyd Ray, among others.Rosenthal, David (1993) ''Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955–1965''. pp. 85–94. Oxford University Press. These opportunities came about through a combination of his ability and the absence of numerous older musicians, who were still in the armed forces following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Around this time in Los Angeles, there were abundant opportunities for musical development, according to Farmer: "During the day you would go to somebody's house and play. At night there were after-hours clubs ..andanybody who wanted to play was free to come up and play".Berliner, Paul F. (2009) ''Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation''. University of Chicago Press. Farmer left high school early but persuaded the principal to give him a diploma, which he did not collect until a visit to the school in 1958. At this time, as an adolescent in Los Angeles,
bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
and the swing era
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
s both attracted Farmer's attention. Decades later, he stated that, at that time, "I knew I had to be in jazz. Two things decided me – the sound of a trumpet section in a big band and hearing a jam session". Farmer's trumpet influences in the 1940s were
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
,
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
and
Fats Navarro Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 6, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, including Cl ...
, but, in his own words, "then I heard
Freddie Webster Freddie Webster (June 8, 1916 – April 1, 1947) was a jazz trumpeter who, Dizzy Gillespie once said, "had the best sound on trumpet since the trumpet was invented--just alive and full of life." He is perhaps best known for being cited by Mil ...
, and I loved his sound. I decided to work on sound because it seemed like most of the guys my age were just working on speed".Robinson, Greg (October 1994) "Art Farmer: Playing It Right". ''JazzTimes''. pp. 47–48, 53.


Later life and career


Early career in Los Angeles and New York

Farmer left school to tour with a group led by
Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He ...
, but this job lasted for only four months, as Farmer's lip gave out. Performing for long periods seven days a week for this job put great pressure on his technique, which was insufficiently developed to cope with such physical demands. His lip eventually became lacerated, and he could no longer play. He then received technique training in New York, where he worked for a time as a janitor and played as a freelance musician during 1947 and 1948. An audition for
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
's big band was unsuccessful, and Farmer returned to the West Coast in 1948 as a member of
Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and B ...
's band. Club and studio work was hard to get in Los Angeles from the late 1940s and into the 1950s, as it was dominated by white musicians. Farmer played and toured with
Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...
,
Roy Porter Roy Sydney Porter, FBA (31 December 1946 – 3 March 2002) was a British historian known for his work on the history of medicine. He retired in 2001 from the director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine at University College L ...
and
Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. In addition to being a ...
, then played with
Wardell Gray Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods. Biography Early years Gray was born in Oklahoma City, the youngest of four children. He spent his early chil ...
in 1951–52.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. p. 219. Oxford University Press. The hazards of the touring jazz musician's lifestyle were also present: while travelling overnight by car between Phoenix and
El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
, to get to another Roy Porter-led gig, the car that Farmer was in overturned at high speed, leaving him concussed and Porter with broken ribs. Farmer's first studio recording appears to have been on June 28 or July 2, 1948, in Los Angeles, under the leadership of vocalist
Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to ...
and pianist Pete Johnson. They recorded "Radar Blues", and at some point in the same or the following year they added a further seven sides; the eight tracks were released as four singles by Swing Time Records. Farmer recorded further singles with Roy Porter and then, on January 21, 1952, as a member of Wardell Gray's sextet. The latter session produced six tracks that were released as singles. These included "Farmer's Market", a piece that was written by Farmer and brought him greater attention.


Career after second move to New York

Farmer worked in Los Angeles for a time as a hotel janitor and a hospital file clerk, before joining
Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...
's orchestra in 1952. He toured Europe with the orchestra from September to December 1953, and shared the organization's trumpet chairs with
Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", an ...
,
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
and
Benny Bailey Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey (August 13, 1925 – April 14, 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Conserva ...
. This aided his musical development considerably, as did his 1953 membership of
Teddy Charles Teddy Charles (April 13, 1928 – April 16, 2012) was an American jazz musician and composer, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums. Career Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, United States, he ...
' New Directions band – the compositions he encountered in this band allowed him to consider a broader range of expression during improvisation.Fordham, John (October 7, 1999
"Art Farmer"
''The Guardian''.
Farmer relocated to New York and, on July 2, 1953, had his first recording session as leader. This was combined with another recorded 11 months later to form the eight-track
Prestige Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...
LP, ''
The Art Farmer Septet ''The Art Farmer Septet'' is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring performances recorded in 1953 and 1954, arranged by Quincy Jones and Gigi Gryce, and released by Prestige Records in 1956. It is his earliest recorded full-length album, but ...
'', featuring arrangements by Quincy Jones and
Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 14, 1983), later Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing career was relatively short, ...
. Farmer became "one of the most sought-after trumpeters of the fifties":Ramsey, Douglas K. (1989) ''Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music & Some of Its Makers''. University of Arkansas Press. he continued to work with Gryce (1954–56), and also with
Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sc ...
(1956–58) and
Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...
(1958–59), among others. Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (eds.) (2002) ''All Music Guide to Jazz: The Definitive Guide to Jazz Music'' (4th ed.). Backbeat Books. One of the others was pianist
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...
, who led a sextet that included Farmer on its performances on a version of the Steve Allen Show, broadcast on television on June 10, 1955. The following month, Farmer played in the
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 ...
sextet's performance at the
Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...
. Farmer recorded only twice with Horace Silver's group, as Silver recorded for
Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...
, while Farmer was signed to Prestige. Feuds between the label bosses ruled out extensive cross-label collaboration.Harrison, Max; Thacker, Eric; Nicholson, Stuart (2000) ''The Essential Jazz Records: Volume 2: Modernism to Postmodernism''. pp. 96–99. Continuum. The transition from Silver's piano-led quintet to Mulligan's piano-less quartet was not straightforward: "to suddenly find yourself in a pianoless group was like walking down the street naked", commented Farmer.Balliett, Whitney (September 23, 1985) "Profiles: Here and Abroad" ''The New Yorker''. pp. 43–55. As a member of Mulligan's band, Farmer appeared on film twice – in ''
I Want to Live! ''I Want to Live!'' is a 1958 American biographical film noir directed by Robert Wise and starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent and Theodore Bikel. It follows the life of Barbara Graham, a prostitute and habitual criminal w ...
'' (1958) and ''The Subterraneans'' (1960)National Endowment for the Art
"1999 NEA Jazz Master: Art Farmer"
. NEA Jazz Masters Art Farmer biography. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
– and again toured Europe, as part of a
Jazz at the Philharmonic Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP (1944–1983), was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz. Over the years, "Jazz at the Philharmonic" featured many of the era's preeminent musicians, including Lou ...
tour, helping him to develop an international reputation.Duncan, Amy (January 6, 1983
"American Trumpeter Art Farmer's Cool Notes in Vienna"
''The Christian Science Monitor''.
In New York, Farmer worked with
Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...
, who told him to "tighten up and tell a 'story' in each solo".Balliett, Whitney (2006) ''American Musicians II: Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz''. University Press of Mississippi. At this time, Farmer also rented his trumpet on a nightly basis to Miles Davis, who had pawned his own due to his drug dependency. From the middle of the 1950s, Farmer featured in recordings by leading arrangers of the day, including George Russell, Quincy Jones and
Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...
, being in demand because of his reputation for being able to play anything. The wide range of styles these arrangers represented was extended when Farmer took part in a series of experimental sessions with composer Edgard Varèse in 1957. Varèse used approximate notation and wanted the musicians to improvise within its structure; at least some of the seasoned jazz musicians present regarded this process of creation as similar to their own familiar creations of spontaneously produced
head arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
s, but their efforts influenced Varèse's composition,
Poème électronique ''Poème électronique'' (English Translation: "Electronic Poem") is an 8-minute piece of electronic music by composer Edgard Varèse, written for the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. The Philips corporation commissioned L ...
. Farmer's playing around this time is summarized by critic
Whitney Balliett Whitney Lyon Balliett (17 April 1926 – 1 February 2007) was a jazz critic and book reviewer for ''The New Yorker'' and was with the journal from 1954 until 2001. Biography Born in Manhattan and raised in Glen Cove, Long Island, Balliett at ...
, commenting on his performance on
Hal McKusick Hal McKusick (June 1, 1924 – April 11, 2012) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist who worked with Boyd Raeburn from 1944 to 1945 and Claude Thornhill from 1948 to 1949. Career McKusick was born in Medford, Massachus ...
's 1957 album ''Hal McKusick Quintet'': "Farmer has become one of the few genuinely individual modern trumpeters. (Nine out of ten modern trumpeters are true copies of Dizzy Gillespie or Miles Davis.)"Balliett, Whitney (2000) ''Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1954–2000''. p. 37. Granta Books. Farmer was one of 57 jazz musicians to appear in the 1958 photograph " A Great Day in Harlem" and was later interviewed for the 1994 documentary of the same title. Farmer formed
the Jazztet The Jazztet was a jazz sextet, co-founded in 1959 by trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, always featuring the founders along with a trombonist and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. In its first phase, the Jazztet lasted unt ...
in 1959, with the composer and tenor saxophonist
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 launch ...
, after each man independently came to the conclusion that the other should be a member of his new sextet. The Jazztet lasted until 1962, recorded several albums for Argo and
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
, and assisted in the early careers of pianist
McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gram ...
and trombonist
Grachan Moncur III Grachan Moncur III (June 3, 1937 – June 3, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper. Biography Born in New York City, United States, (his paternal gran ...
. In the early 1960s Farmer established a trio with guitarist Jim Hall and bassist
Steve Swallow Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar. ...
; his relationship with Hall lasted from 1962 to 1964, and included two tours of Europe, one of which had concerts recorded for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''
Jazz 625 ''Jazz 625'' is a BBC jazz programme featuring performances by British and American musicians, first broadcast between April 1964 and August 1966. It was created by Terry Henebery, a clarinetist recruited in 1963 as one of the new producers fo ...
'' programme, which were later released on DVD.Cunniffe, Thoma
"The Art Farmer Quartet Featuring Jim Hall: Part 2"
. Jazz History Online. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
Hall left the second tour while the quartet, which included Swallow and drummer
Pete La Roca Pete "La Roca" Sims (born Peter Sims; April 7, 1938 – November 20, 2012, known as Pete La Roca from 1957 until 1968) was an American jazz drummer and attorney. Born and raised in Harlem by a pianist mother and a stepfather who played trumpet, ...
, was engaged in Berlin, and a pianist replaced him; this was ultimately
Steve Kuhn Steve Kuhn (born March 24, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator. Biography Kuhn was born in New York City, New York, to Carl and Stella Kuhn (née Kaufman), and was raised in Newton, Massachusetts. Hi ...
. In 1964, this new quartet recorded the album '' Sing Me Softly of the Blues'' for the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
label. These bands played laid back, melodious music during a period when
avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...
was becoming more common. Farmer toured Europe in 1965–66, then returned to the US and led a small group with
Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...
. His stylistic development continued during this period of his career, in part because he "absorbed, understood, and had the technical and artistic gifts to put to personal use the
ohn Ohn is a Burmese name, used by people from Myanmar. Notable people with the name include: * Daw Ohn (1913–2003), Burmese professor in Pali * Ohn Gyaw (born 1932), Burmese Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1998 * Ohn Kyaing (born 1944), Bur ...
Coltrane innovations of the '
Giant Steps ''Giant Steps'' is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader. It was released in February 1960 on Atlantic Records. This was his first album as leader for Atlantic Records, with which he had signed a new contract the previou ...
' period of the early 1960s". Work opportunities, however, were diminishing as rock became more popular in the mid-1960s, so Farmer joined the pit orchestra of
Elliot Lawrence Elliott Lawrence Broza (February 14, 1925 – July 2, 2021), known professionally as Elliott Lawrence, was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. Son of the broadcaster Stan Lee Broza, Lawrence led his first dance band at age 20, but he pl ...
for the production of ''
The Apple Tree ''The Apple Tree'' is a series of three musical playlets with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Bock and Harnick with contributions from Jerome Coopersmith. Each act has its own storyline, but all three are tied toge ...
'' on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, for six months.


Career after permanent move to Europe

The visits to Europe continued. Farmer moved there in 1968 and ultimately settled in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, where he performed with The
Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band The Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band was a jazz big band co-led by American drummer Kenny Clarke and Belgian pianist François "Francy" Boland. They were one of the most noteworthy jazz big bands formed outside the United States, featuring top ...
and joined the Austrian Radio Orchestra. The latter job initially required only ten days a month of his time, so he was able to play with other well-known expatriates such as
Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led ...
,
Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...
, and
Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...
. As the orchestra's music gradually changed in style from jazz to simpler forms and took up more of Farmer's time, he found that it was getting in the way of his musical ambitions, so he left after three or four years. Pursuing these ambitions meant that Farmer traveled extensively worldwide. He said in 1976 that "I'm traveling 90 percent of the time. I can live anywhere. It's just a matter of getting to the airport". A 1982 revival of the Jazztet, with Golson, led him to play more frequently in the United States than he had over the previous decade.Mathieson, Kenny (2012) ''Cookin': Hard Bop and Soul Jazz 1954–65: Hard Bop and Soul Jazz 1954–65''. Canongate. In the 1980s Farmer also created a quintet, featuring saxophonist
Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...
, that toured internationally. In the early 1980s, Farmer had also made some changes to his lifestyle. Interviewed for a 1985 article in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', he reported losing 30 pounds in weight a couple of years earlier, and stopping smoking and drinking a couple of years before that; Farmer "used to think he couldn't play without drinking; now he couldn't play and drink", was the interviewer's summary of Farmer's habits, which appear to have avoided the drug-related problems of many of his contemporaries. From the early 1990s, Farmer had a second house in New York and divided his time between Vienna and there. He had regular gigs with Clifford Jordan at the Sweet Basil Jazz Club and, later, with
Ran Blake Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 rec ...
and
Jerome Richardson Jerome Richardson (November 15, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played soprano sax, alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto flute and piccolo. He played with Ch ...
at the
Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...
, both in New York. Farmer was awarded the Austrian Gold Medal of Merit in 1994. In the same year, a concert in honor of his achievements was held at the
Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...
in New York. Farmer also recorded extensively as a leader throughout his later career, including some pieces of classical music with US and European orchestras. Farmer's level of playing even towards the end of his career was noted in a review by
Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...
of one of his last recordings, ''Silk Road'', from 1996: "the warm-toned and swinging Farmer is consistently the main star, and at age 68 he proves to still be in his prime". In 1999 Farmer was selected as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. A few months later, on October 4, Farmer died of a heart attack at home in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, aged 71.Heckman, Don & Thurber, Jon (October 7, 1999
"Art Farmer: Eloquent Jazz Master of the Trumpet and Fluegelhorn"
''Los Angeles Times''.


Personality and family life

Farmer first married in the mid-1950s, to a woman from South America. They divorced after about a year, but the marriage produced one son, Arthur Jr, who died in 1994. Farmer's second wife was a distant cousin; this marriage also ended in divorce. He married again, to a Viennese banker named Mechtilde Lawgger, and their son, Georg, was born in the early 1970s."Requiem" (November 1999
Associated Musicians of Greater New York's ''Allegro''. Volume XCIX, No. 10.
/ref> They lived together in a house that they had built in Vienna, and Farmer reported contentment with his lifestyle; notably, in contrast with his homeland, he did not experience racism in Europe. Farmer described himself in 1985 as "an introvert, and kind of reclusive"; a soundproof room in his Austrian house allowed him to practice alone for the four or five hours a day that he desired. His personality was often described by others as mirroring his playing:
Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...
, for instance, observed in 1990 that Farmer was "mellow, relaxed and ..gentle". Farmer was affected by the sudden death of his twin brother in 1963: more than 20 years later, he said that he still dreamed of his sibling, and admitted that, "It seems there's a part of him I haven't fully gotten over". Farmer's third wife died from cancer in 1992; speaking three years later, he remarked that "I guess I never will really recover from that because we had been together for over 20 years when she died". After his own death, he was described as being survived by his companion and manager, Lynne Mueller, and son.Ratliff, Ben (October 6, 1999
"Art Farmer, 71, Be-Bop Master of the Trumpet and Fluegelhorn"
''The New York Times''.


Playing style

Descriptions of Farmer's playing style typically stress his lyricism and the warmth of his sound. The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' obituary writers noted that his playing had "a sweetly lyrical tone and a melodic approach to phrasing, neither of which minimized his capacity to produce rhythmically swinging phrases". The equivalent comments in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' were that "Farmer avoided the bright, penetrating sound of orthodox trumpet playing and was influenced by the more reserved articulation of Miles Davis and
Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...
", and that, although he could seem more restrained than Davis or
Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...
, "Farmer was in his way a true original. His phrasing was always distinctive, letting the beat run ahead of him rather in the manner of
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...
's vocals". Farmer moved from trumpet to playing mostly flugelhorn from the early 1960s, utilising the latter instrument's more mellow sound and Farmer's ability to get what he wanted from it without having to use a mute. In 1989, he played a major part in creating a trumpet–flugelhorn hybrid, the
flumpet The Flumpet is a hybrid brass instrument that shares the construction and timbral qualities of a trumpet and flugelhorn. The Flumpet was invented for Art Farmer by David Monette and is currently in production by Monette. The Flumpet is in the ke ...
, which was constructed for him by instrument maker David Monette. This instrument allowed him to play with more expression in a range of settings, from small groups to big bands. In 1997, Monette presented him with a personalized flumpet, with decorations symbolising important people and places in Farmer's life.Reich, Howard (August 5, 1997
"Specialized Instrument: Jazzman's 'Flumpet' Decorated with Personal Symbols"
''Chicago Tribune''.
Farmer's determination to keep exploring forms of expression continued throughout his life. One comment on a concert given when Farmer was 67 was that "his style was continuing to evolve"; he "delivered several solos in which his characteristically flowing lines were interrupted by sudden, wide melodic leaps and disjunct rhythmic accents". A few months before his death, although faster numbers had become perhaps too challenging, ''The Guardian'' observed, Farmer's playing on slower tunes achieved a new level of emotional expression.


Discography and filmography


References


External links

* *
Steven L. Isoardi's 1991 interviews of Farmer, about his time in Los Angeles

David Monette's video of Farmer's 1997 personalized flumpet

Complete discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Art 1928 births 1999 deaths African-American jazz musicians American expatriates in Austria American jazz flugelhornists American jazz trumpeters American male jazz musicians American male trumpeters Arabesque Records artists Atlantic Records artists Bebop trumpeters Contemporary Records artists Cool jazz trumpeters Enja Records artists Fantasy Records artists GRP Records artists Hard bop trumpeters Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band members Mainstream jazz trumpeters Mercury Records artists Musicians from Iowa Post-bop trumpeters Prestige Records artists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century trumpeters Twin musicians The Jazztet members CTI Records artists Jefferson High School (Los Angeles) alumni 20th-century African-American musicians Argo Records artists