Clarence Eugene Shaw, sometimes credited as Gene Shaw (June 16, 1926 – August 17, 1973) 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 a student of Fourth Way psychology.

Early life

Shaw was born in Detroit on June 16, 1926. He played the piano and trombone as a child. He began playing trumpet around 1946 after hearing

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 ''Hot House'' while recovering from injuries sustained in the army. He attended the Detroit Institute of Music, and studied with pianist

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Life and career Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December ...

Later life and career

In Detroit, he played 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 ...

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 chi ...

, and

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing music, swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing th ...

. He moved to New York in 1956 and began playing with

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 ...

's Jazz Workshop in 1957. Among his credits with Mingus is ''

Tijuana Moods ''Tijuana Moods'' is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded in 1957 but not released until June 1962. It was reissued in 1986 on CD as ''New Tijuana Moods'' with four additional alternate takes and as a double LP with five alternate takes. Two-CD exp ...

''. On ''

East Coasting ''East Coasting'' is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded and released in late 1957. It was reissued on CD with bonus takes in 1993. Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "One of Charles Mingus's lesser-known band sessions, this se ...

'', Shaw used a

Harmon mute A mute is a device attached to a musical instrument which changes the instrument's tone quality (timbre) or lowers its volume. Mutes are commonly used on string and brass instruments, especially the trumpet and trombone, and are occasionall ...

, although he was initially wary of using it, given its association with the sound of

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 ...

. Later in 1957 he destroyed his instrument and quit music over a fight with Mingus. He did not return to playing until 1962, after which time he formed his own ensemble. He retired again in 1964 and returned to music once more in 1968. He died in Los Angeles on August 17, 1973. For many years, Gene was an active member of the Chicago Gurdjieff society and a student of

Fourth Way The Fourth Way is an approach to self-development developed by George Gurdjieff over years of travel in the East (c. 1890 – 1912). It combines and harmonizes what he saw as three established traditional "ways" or "schools": those of the body, ...

psychology, including its music.

Discography

As leader

*''Breakthrough'' (

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

, 1962) *''Debut in Blue'' (Argo, 1963) *''Carnival Sketches'' (Argo, 1964)

As sideman

With

*''

'' (Bethlehem, 1957) *''

A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry ''A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry'' is an album by the jazz bassist, composer, and band leader Charles Mingus, released by Bethlehem Records in mid-1959. In spite of the title, the album does not contain any poetry. "Scenes in the Cit ...

'' (Bethlehem, 1957) *''

'' (RCA, 1962) Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Clarence 1926 births 1973 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Musicians from Detroit 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trumpeters Jazz musicians from Michigan 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians