Howard Wales (February 8, 1943 – December 7, 2020) was an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

who worked in a wide variety of styles. He was a collaborator with

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

in the early 1970s. Wales was a session player for many musical acts, including

Ronnie Hawkins Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He ...

Freddie King Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, and the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

. Though he was adept at accompanying rock and R&B artists, he also played free-form jazz. Later in his career he released several solo albums in this style. For several months in 1970, Wales led Monday night jazz-rock jam sessions at

the Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

, a club in San Francisco. Jerry Garcia usually played guitar at these free-form performances. The two were often joined by

John Kahn John Kahn (June 13, 1947 – May 30, 1996) was an American electric and acoustic bassist. From 1970 to 1995, Kahn was Jerry Garcia's principal musical collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead. Biography John Kahn was born in Memphis, Tennessee ...

on bass and

Bill Vitt Bill Vitt (May 6, 1943 - July 16, 2019, aged 76) was an American drummer and keyboardist. He worked extensively as a live performer and as a session musician. In the 1970s he played with Brewer & Shipley, Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, and the So ...

on drums. A studio album called ''

Hooteroll? ''Hooteroll?'' is a jazz-rock fusion album by Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia. Prior to making ''Hooteroll?'', Wales and Garcia had played together at Monday night jam sessions at The Matrix in San Francisco. Wales had also played organ on sev ...

'', with these musicians and others, and featuring music composed mostly by Wales, was released in 1971. A live album recorded at the Matrix jam sessions, ''

Side Trips, Volume One ''Side Trips, Volume One'' is a jazz fusion album by Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia. It was recorded live at the Matrix in San Francisco in 1970, and released on CD in October 1998. It was released as a two-disc LP in a limited edition of 2,500 co ...

'', was released in 1998. Wales contributed to the 1970

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

album '' American Beauty''. He played organ on the songs "

Truckin' "Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album ''American Beauty (album), American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illus ...

" and "Candyman", and piano on "Brokedown Palace". Wales had a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in November 2020 and died on December 7, 2020, at the age of 77.

Discography

Howard Wales * ''Rendezvous with the Sun'' (1976) * ''The Monk in the Mansion'' (1992) * ''Complex Simplex'' (2001) * ''Between Two Worlds'' (2006) * ''Life Is a Trip'' (2009) * ''Faces'' (2012) * ''Overview'' (2014) * ''Undisclosed Location'' (2018) Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia * ''

'' (1971) * ''

'' (1998) With other artists * ''A.B. Skhy'' – A.B. Skhy (1969) * ''Music of El Topo'' – Shades of Joy (1970) * '' American Beauty'' –

(1970) * ''Baby Batter'' –

Harvey Mandel Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career. Early life Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, a ...

(1971) * ''Electronic Progress'' – Harvey Mandel (1971) * ''The Runner'' – Jeff Jolly Band (1996) * ''Planetary Warrior'' – Harvey Mandel (1997) * ''Changer L'Horizon'' – Rod and the Shotgun Blues (1998) * ''Berkeley Soul'' – Sy Klopps (2000) * ''Raw Material'' – Jeff Jolly (2001) * ''Mosaique'' – Rocío Guitard (2002) * ''Harvey Mandel and the Snake Crew'' – Harvey Mandel (2006) * ''The Wax Still Drips'' – Stackabones (2011)

References

External links

Howard Wales
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wales, Howard American rock keyboardists 1943 births 2020 deaths