Earl Cross (December 8, 1933 – 1987) was a

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

trumpeter best known for his association with saxophonists

Noah Howard Noah Howard (April 6, 1943 – September 3, 2010) was an American free jazz alto saxophonist. Biography Born in New Orleans, Howard played music from childhood in his church. He first learned trumpet and later switched to alto, tenor and sopran ...

and

Charles Tyler Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, GCB (1760 – 28 September 1835) was a naval officer in the British Royal Navy who gained fame during the Napoleonic Wars as a naval captain that fought at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) and Battle of Trafalgar, beco ...

and percussionist

Juma Sultan Juma Sultan (born April 13, 1942) is a jazz musician, most often recording as a percussionist or bass player. He may be best known for his appearance at the Woodstock festival of 1969 at Bethel, New York, playing with Jimi Hendrix. He currently p ...

, as well as with the 1970s

loft jazz Loft jazz (or the loft scene or loft era) was a cultural phenomenon that occurred in New York City during the mid-1970s. Gary Giddins described it as follows: " new coterie of avant-garde musicians took much of the jazz world by surprise... ey inte ...

scene in New York City.

Career

Cross was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and began playing music in his mid-teens. After high school, he entered the Air Force, where he associated with trumpeter Richard Williams, saxophonist Frank Haynes, and pianist

Freddie Redd Freddie Redd (May 29, 1928 – March 17, 2021) was an American Hard bop, hard-bop pianist and composer. He is best known for writing music to accompany ''The Connection (play), The Connection'' (1959), a play by Jack Gelber. According to Peter ...

. He then went to California, where he performed in bands led by

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

and

Monty Waters Monty Waters (April 14, 1938 in Modesto, California – December 23, 2008 in Munich, Germany) was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist and singer. Waters received his first musical training from his aunt and first played in the church. After h ...

, and also led his own group, which featured saxophonists Waters and

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played ...

, trumpeters Alden Griggs and Norman Spiller, pianist Sonny Donaldson, bassist Benny Wilson, and drummer Art Lewis. In 1967, Cross moved to New York City and joined a band led by

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific out ...

, whom he described as "an institution." During the 1970s, he participated in the loft jazz scene, and recorded with

Rashied Ali Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life. Biography Early life Patterson was born and ...

, and

. He also led ensembles of varying size; a recording of a 1973 live performance by Cross's sextet was released by the

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

label in 1977 with the title ''Sam Rivers Tuba Trio & Earl Cross Sextet: Jazz of the Seventies''. In 1977, he moved to Holland, where he continued to perform. In 1980, he participated in a concert with saxophonist

Idris Ackamoor Idris Ackamoor (born Bruce Baker, January 9, 1951) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, actor, tap dancer, producer, administrator, and director. He is also artistic director of the jazz ensemble The Pyramids. The Pyramids He founded th ...

, bassist Rashied Al Akbar, and drummer

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, a recording of which was released 34 years later by

NoBusiness Records NoBusiness Records is an independent record label, based in Vilnius, Lithuania. History The label was founded in 2008 by Danas Mikailionis and Valerij Anosov. The latter is the owner of a jazz-oriented record store in Vilnius named ''Thelonious'' ...

with the title ''

Ascent of the Nether Creatures ''Ascent of the Nether Creatures'' is a live album by bassist Rashied Al Akbar, drummer Muhammad Ali, trumpeter Earl Cross, and saxophonist Idris Ackamoor. It was recorded on July 12, 1980, in the Netherlands, and was released on LP in limited qua ...

''. In 1981, he reunited with Tyler in Stockholm, recording the live albums ''Definite'' Volumes 1 and 2, both of which feature his compositions. Cross died in 1987.

Tribute

The 2003 album ''

Live at the Vision Festival ''Live at the Vision Festival'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded live at the 2001 Vision Festival and released on Ayler Records, a Swedish label founded by Jan Ström and Åke Bjurhamn.Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before s ...

features a composition titled "Blues for Earl Cross."

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* ''Jazz of the Seventies: Sam Rivers Tuba Trio & Earl Cross Sextet'' (

, 1977) * ''

'' with Rashied Al Akbar,

, and

( NoBusiness, 2014) recorded in 1980

As sideman

;With

* ''

Rashied Ali Quintet ''Rashied Ali Quintet'' is an album by the free jazz ensemble of the same name, led by drummer Ali, and featuring saxophonist Bob Ralston, trumpeter Earl Cross, guitarist James Blood Ulmer, and bassist John Dana. It was recorded during 1973 at Mar ...

'' (Survival, 1973) ;With

* ''

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'' (

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

, 1972) ;With

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* ''Jackson Krall and the Secret Music Society'' (Stork, 1991) recorded in 1984 ;With

's Aboriginal Music Society * ''

Father of Origin ''Father of Origin'' is a box set album by multi-instrumentalist Juma Sultan and his open-ended ensemble the Aboriginal Music Society. Drawn from Sultan's archive of recorded material, and released by Eremite Records in 2011, it consists of two vin ...

'' (

Eremite A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

, 2011) recorded in 1970–1971 * ''Whispers from the Archive'' (

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

, 2012) ;With

* ''Voyage from Jericho'' (AK-BA, 1975) * '' Saga of the Outlaws'' (

Nessa Nessa Diab, known mononymously as Nessa, is an American radio and TV personality and television host. Early life and education Nessa was born to an Egyptian father and mother. She has two brothers. She grew up in Southern California but her ...

, 1978) * ''At WKCR'' (Sinner Lady Gloria, 2014) recorded in 1974 * '' Definite – Volume 1'' (Storyville, 1982) * '' Definite – Volume 2'' (Storyville, 1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Earl 1933 births 1987 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Musicians from St. Louis NoBusiness Records artists