Jimmy Owens (jazz)

Jimmy Owens (born December 9, 1943) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, lecturer, and educator. He has played with Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Hank Crawford, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Herbie Mann, among many others. Since 1969, he has led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus.

Biography

Jimmy Owens was born in New York City, New York, United States. He is a jazz trumpeter and, in addition, plays the flugelhorn. He is also a composer, lecturer, arranger and music education consultant, harnessing more than 45 years of musical experience. Owens does not have an enormous number of recordings as a leader; however, his career was instead nourished through session work with groups and band leaders.“Jimmy Owens.”
AllMusic. Accessed on April 23, 2012. His encounter with music encompasses a vast range of intercontinental musical success including ballets, movie scores, serving as a band leader and even creating orchestral compositions.“Full Biography-Jimmy Owens,”
JimmyOwensJazz. Accessed on April 24, 2012. He has performed with jazz musicians such as Max Roach, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Kenny Barron, Count Basie, Benny Golson, Billy Taylor, Lionel Hampton, Hank Crawford, and Gerald Wilson among others. All throughout his musical career, Owens demonstrated his understanding of the jazz concepts, but also illustrates a proficient comprehension of the blues style, and provided musically emotional atmospheres for ballads.

1950s and 1960s

Owens began playing the trumpet at the age of fourteen under the tutelage of Donald Byrd and later studied music composition with Henry Brant. At the age of fifteen, Owens had the opportunity of sitting in with Miles Davis' band; however, he did not record with them. In the late 1960s, he was a member of Marshall Brown’s Newport Youth Band. Owens graduated from The High School of Music & Art in New York City when he was aged 14, and subsequently attended the University of Massachusetts, where he obtained his master's degree in Education. In the 1960s, he was a member of the hybrid classical and rock band Ars Nova. After Ars Nova ended, he was a member of the New York Jazz Sextet. Among the members of this group at various times were Sir Roland Hanna, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Benny Golson, Hubert Laws, and Tom McIntosh. In addition, he has led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus, since the 1970s, touring and playing in festivals and concerts. His performances with his band have taken him to Asia, South and Central America, the Middle East and various parts of Europe. In 1969, he helped found Collective Black Artist, a non-profit jazz education and performing organization. Between 1969 and 1972, Owens was a sideman on ''The David Frost Show'', whose musical director was Dr. Billy Taylor. Sidemen in this group included Frank Wess, Seldon Powell, Barry Galbraith, and Bob Cranshaw. Stepping into adulthood, Owens had already established a good reputation for himself that led him to the opportunities such as touring France with Duke Ellington.

1970s

Jimmy Owens toured France again in 1971 with the Young Giants of Jazz, performed with radio orchestras in Germany and the Netherlands, and also played with Chuck Israels’ National Jazz Ensemble. At the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival, Owens was one of the youngest trumpet players present to participate in a tribute that was played in the honor Louis Armstrong. That same year, Owens released his first album, ''No Escaping It'' (1970), on which he seamlessly demonstrated his musical edge while maintaining a warm tone, along with decisive notation. In 1972, he was chosen to play a trumpet tribute for past trumpeters, such as Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge, at the inaugural Ellington Fellowship Concert that was held at Yale University.“National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters: Jimmy Owens.”
Accessed on April 23, 2012. In the 1970s, Owens did a great deal of travelling and began doing yearly European Tours in Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, England, the Netherlands, and Sweden. During this time, he was shown a great amount of appreciation in orchestral and symphonic music through his guest appearances with the Southern University Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony of the New World, and the Hannover Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. One of his performance highlights of the 1970s was the tour he took in the U.S. called, Western States Arts Foundation Tour. After his first album, he released three more albums titled, ''Jimmy Owens'', ''Young Man on the Move'' and ''Heading Home''; all of which were released the 1970s. In 1972, Owens began giving back to the community by becoming a member of the National Endowment for the Arts music panel up until 1976. This organization sought to aid in funding numerous organizations and individual artists.“Jimmy Owens: Biography”
, All About Jazz. Accessed on April 24, 2012. From 1977 to 1981, he was a member of the music panel for the New York State Council on the Arts, which funded New York State cultural organizations.

1980s

In the 1980s, Owens demonstrated no lack in the passion that he held for music. He continued venturing overseas, and played in a variety festivals and concerts in different countries. He also performed concerts in the Middle East and Africa during his Tour of North Africa and the Middle East, U.S. State Department (1981). Jimmy Owens Plus also toured South American in their South American Tour (1983 and 1986) and also performed across Central America in their Tour of Caribbean, Central and South America (1989). Owens received several awards during the 1980s including the 'Survival of the Black Artist Award' (1980) from Howard University, the International Success Award (1983) from the Marabu Club in Italy, and the "Manhattan Borough President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts" (1986). In 1989, Owens released an album called ''The Jazz Mobile Allstars'', featuring Billy Taylor, Frank Wess, Victor Gaskin, Ted Dunbar and Bobby Thomas.

1990s

In 1990, the Jazz Musicians' Emergency Fund was founded to help individual musicians with medical, financial, and housing assistance after Jamil Nasser