Earl Coleman (August 12, 1925 – July 12, 1995) was a jazz singer. Coleman was born in Port Huron, Michigan. As a child, he lived with his mother, grandmother, aunt, and step-grandfather. After moving to Indianapolis in 1939, he sang with

Ernie Fields Ernest Lawrence Fields (August 28, 1904 – May 11, 1997)Laprarie, Michael Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' (accessed May 14, 2010). was an American trombonist, pianist, arranger and bandleader. He first became known for leading ...

and

Bardu Ali Bardu Ali (September 23, 1906 – October 29, 1981) was an American jazz and R&B singer, guitarist, and promoter. Biography It has been reported that Ali was born September 23, 1910 or 1906, in Mississippi. His sister and older brothers bo ...

. He joined the

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 ...

band in 1943 and later sang with Earl Hines, the

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

Orchestra, and King Kolax. He then went with McShann to California and recorded with

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

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 ...

, and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

in 1948. In 1954, he worked with

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and ...

and recorded with

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doubl ...

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, ...

. In 1956 he was with

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 ...

. By 1960 he was recording as a leader and performed with

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 ...

. In 1962 he was with

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 ...

in Paris and in the mid-60s with

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...

and Frank Foster. By 1980–86 he was recording with organist

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in Ph ...

. Coleman died of cardiac arrest in New York City, aged 69.

Discography

As leader

* '' Earl Coleman Returns'' (Prestige, 1956) * ''Love Songs'' (Atlantic, 1968) * ''A Song for You'' (Xanadu, 1978) * ''There's Something About an Old Love'' (Xanadu, 1983) * ''Stardust'' (Stash, 1984)

As sideman

With

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Ge ...

* '' Sugar'' (Muse, 1989) With Sonny Rollins * '' Tour de Force'' (Prestige, 1956) With

* ''Singing Dark Shadows on The Charlie Parker Quartet'' (Dial 1014, 1948)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Earl American jazz singers American rhythm and blues singers 1925 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American singers