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Dennis Irwin (November 28, 1951 in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

- March 10, 2008) 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 majo ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

ist. He toured and recorded with

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in ...

and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra among others, and played on over 500 albums.

Biography

Irwin attended North Texas State University with Norman Wisdom, studying classical music. Although he started out playing alto sax and clarinet (achieving first chair All State clarinet while at Westchester High School in Houston) he soon switched to the bass and joined the university's "

Two O'Clock Lab Band The Two O'Clock Lab Band is the second highest level of nine big bands (see One O'Clock Lab Band) of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of North Texas College of Music, a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music ...

." After working with pianist

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jaz ...

in Dallas, Irwin moved to New York. There he played with Charles Brackeen, and later landed his first steady gig in trumpeter

Ted Curson Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American jazz trumpeter. Life and career Curson was born in Philadelphia. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet. Curson's fath ...

's group in 1975. He accompanied such vocalists as Jackie Paris,

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative int ...

Annie Ross Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 193021 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Early life Ross was born in Su ...

Ann Hampton Callaway Ann Hampton Callaway (born May 30, 1958) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and actress. She wrote and sang the theme song for the TV series ''The Nanny''. Career A native of Chicago, her father, John Callaway, was a journalist and her moth ...

, Tania Maria and

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to ...

. Influences include bassists Al Jackson Sr. and

Eddie Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones may refer to: Architecture * Edward Vason Jones (1909–1980), American neoclassical architect * Edward Jones (English architect) (born 1939), English architect who designed the Saïd Business School * Edward Jones (Wel ...

. Irwin's first major recording session was in New York City on May 20 & 21, 1976, with Brazilian pianist Dom Salvador, ''My Family'' (for

Muse Records Muse Records was a jazz record company and label founded in New York City by Joe Fields in 1972. Fields worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s. Several of the albums were previously released on Cobblestone Records. Muse also ...

).Liner notes on LP back cover
of ''My Family,'' Muse Records, May 20 & 21, 1976] Beginning in 1977, Irwin played with

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

for three years. The Jazz Messengers recorded several of Irwin’s compositions including "Kamal." Irwin also worked with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

Joe Lovano Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre o ...

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

and

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 ...

as well as with Brazilian musicians Duduca Fonseca and Portinho. From 1992 to 1995, Irwin played with guitarist

. He can be heard on his

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

recordings '' What We Do,'' ''

Hand Jive The hand jive is a dance particularly associated with music of the 1950s, rhythm and blues in particular. It involves a complicated pattern of hand moves and claps at various parts of the body, following and/or imitating the percussion instrum ...

'' and '' Groove Elation.'' His battle with

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, which was ultimately fatal, raised awareness of jazz musicians without medical insurance. The

Jazz Foundation of America The Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) is a non-profit organization based in Manhattan, New York that was founded in 1989. Its programs seek to help jazz and blues musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunitie ...

and

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center Englewood Health is an acute care 289-bed teaching hospital in Englewood, New Jersey. In 2021 it was given a grade A by the Leapfrog patient safety organization. History It was incorporated in 1888 as a "non-profit, non-sectarian voluntary health ...

created the Dennis Irwin Memorial Fund to pay for cancer screenings for uninsured jazz and blues musicians. Irwin died in Manhattan on March 10, 2008, the same day as a

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center in New York City. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center in October 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director and the leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orche ...

benefit concert in his honor featuring performances by

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...

, and

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and r ...

, in addition to Lovano and Scofield. His partner was singer Aria Hendricks, daughter of

. His son, Michael Irwin, is a trumpet player in New York City.

Selected discography

With

and

The Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...

* '' Gypsy Folk Tales'' (

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

, 1977) * ''Heat Wave'' (

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affil ...

/After Beat, 1977) * ''

In My Prime Vol. 1 ''In My Prime Vol. 1'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1977 and released on the Dutch Timeless label.

'' (

Timeless Timeless (or atemporal) or timelessness (or atemporality) may refer to: * Agelessness, the condition of being unaffected by the passage of time * Akal (Sikh term), timelessness in Sikhism * Eternity, timeless existence or infinite duration * Immo ...

, 1977) * '' In My Prime Vol. 2'' (Timeless, 1977) * '' In This Korner'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

, 1978) * '' Reflections in Blue'' (Timeless, 1978) * '' Night in Tunisia: Digital Recording'' (

Polygram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be ...

, 1979) * '' One by One'' ( Palcoscenico, 1979 981 * ''Works of Art'' (Recall, 2002) With Joshua Breakstone *''

Echoes Echoes may refer to: * Echo (phenomenon) Film and television * ''Echoes'' (2014 film), an American supernatural horror film * ''Echoes'' (miniseries), a 2022 Netflix original drama series * "Echoes" (''Fear Itself''), an episode of ''Fear Itse ...

'' (Contemporary, 1987) *'' Self-Portrait in Swing'' (Contemporary, 1989) *'' 9 by 3'' (Contemporary, 1991) *''

Walk Don't Run ''Walk, Don't Run'' is a 1966 American comedy film directed by Charles Walters and starring Cary Grant, Samantha Eggar, and Jim Hutton. The film, which was Grant's last film role, is set during the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It is a remake o ...

'' (King, 1992) * '' Let's Call This Monk!'' ( Double-Time, 1997) With

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz Trombone, trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December ...

* ''

Four on the Outside ''Four on the Outside'' is an album by trombonist Curtis Fuller which was recorded in September 1978 and released on the Dutch Timeless Records, Timeless label.Fitzgerald, MCurtis Fuller Leader Entry accessed October 22, 2019 Reception Allmusic ...

'' (Timeless, 1978) With

* ''Take My Hand'' ( Who's Who in Jazz, 1988) * ''Woe Is Me'' (Jazz Hour, 1988) * ''The Cat'' (

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

, 1990) With Scott Hamilton * ''Radio City'' (Concord Jazz, 1990) * ''Organic Duke'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) * ''My Romance'' (Concord Jazz, 1995) * ''Blues Bop & Ballads'' (Concord Jazz, 1999) * ''Ballad Essentials'' (Concord Jazz, 2000) With

* '' Tones, Shapes & Colors'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1985) * ''

52nd Street Themes ''52nd Street Themes'' is a studio album by the American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano. It was recorded in early November 1999 and released by the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label on April 25, 2000. The album won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award ...

'' (Blue Note, 2000) * '' On This Day...Live at the Vanguard'' (Blue Note, 2002) * ''

Streams of Expression ''Streams of Expression'' is the 20th studio album by American jazz musician Joe Lovano to be released on the Blue Note label. It was released in 2006 and features a five-part "Streams of Expression Suite," three-part "Birth of the Cool Suite," a ...

'' (Blue Note, 2006) With Tisziji Munoz * ''Visiting This Planet'' (Anami) * ''Hearing Voices'' (Anami) With Valery Ponomarev * ''

Means of Identification Means may refer to: * Means LLC, an anti-capitalist media worker cooperative * Means (band), a Christian hardcore band from Regina, Saskatchewan * Means, Kentucky, a town in the US * Means (surname) * Means Johnston Jr. (1916–1989), US Navy adm ...

'' (Reservoir, 1985

987 Year 987 ( CMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * February 7 – Bardas Phokas (the Younger) and Bardas Skleros, two membe ...

*''

Trip to Moscow ''Trip to Moscow'' is an album by trumpeter Valery Ponomarev which was recorded in 1988 and released on the Reservoir label.

'' (Reservoir, 1987) With

* '' What We Do'' (

, 1992) * ''

'' (Blue Note, 1993) * '' Groove Elation'' (Blue Note, 1995)

References

External links

*
Dennis Irwin, 56, Bassist Popular in New York Jazz, Is Dead
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 12, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Dennis 1951 births 2008 deaths American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists The Jazz Messengers members Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama People from Dallas Musicians from New York City University of North Texas College of Music alumni Jazz musicians from New York (state) Jazz musicians from Alabama 20th-century double-bassists American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians