Joel Futterman (born April 30, 1946 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is 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 major ...

pianist and

soprano saxophonist The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo saxop ...

. A native of Chicago, Joel Futterman was influenced both musically and philosophically by Gene Shaw, with whom he worked with and studied for a few years. Futterman was also influenced by Joseph Schwarzbaum, a writer, poet, and philosopher, as well as his brother Ronald. His influences include

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

, and

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...

. From 1964 to 1969, Joel Futterman played bebop and other forms of jazz in various settings in Chicago. He played with artists affiliated with the AACM, but eventually left Chicago, moving to

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

in 1972. His first album, ''Cafeteria'', was released in 1979. Since then, Futterman's recordings have included

Jimmy Lyons Jimmy Lyons (December 1, 1931 – May 19, 1986) was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor never ...

, Richard Davis, and

Hal Russell Hal Russell (born Harold Russell Luttenbacher, August 28, 1926 – September 5, 1992) was an American free jazz composer, band leader and multi-instrumentalist who performed mainly on saxophone and drums but occasionally on trumpet or vibrapho ...

. In the 1980s he released several albums of material on his own label, JDF. After Lyons's death in 1986, Futterman quit working professionally for a time; some of their performances together were reissued in the 1990s. Joel eventually returned to active performance. Some of his older material was reissued on Ear-Rational, Konnex Records, Bellaphon Records and

Silkheart Records Silkheart Records is a Swedish record company and label dedicated to improvised music and free jazz. Lars-Olof Gustavsson and Keith Knox founded Silkheart in 1985. In 1991, Jimmy Johnson of Forced Exposure suggested that Silkheart "could easily ...

around this time. In 1994 Joel Futterman met

Kidd Jordan Edward "Kidd" Jordan (born May 5, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist and music educator from New Orleans, Louisiana. After completing a music degree at Southern University in Baton Rouge, he relocated to New Orleans. He taught at Southern Uni ...

, who introduced him to

Alvin Fielder Alvin Leroy Fielder Jr (November 23, 1935 – January 5, 2019) was an American jazz drummer. He was a charter member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Black Arts Music Society, Improvisational Arts band, and wa ...

, and this trio has performed and recorded together for years. Also, Joel Futterman has performed with Greg Foster, Paul Murphy,

Joseph Jarman Joseph Jarman (September 14, 1937 – January 9, 2019) was an American jazz musician, composer, poet, and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and a member of the ...

Jay Oliver Jay Russell Oliver (born April 26, 1959) is an American jazz musician (piano, piano keyboard, keyboards and music synthesizer, synths), music composer, composer, record producer, programmer and engineer. He began his professional music career at t ...

, Ike Levin, and William Parker. Labels that have released his music include JDF, Silkheart, Charles Lester Music, and others. Futterman is the author of three books.

Discography

As leader

* ''Cafeteria'' (JDF 1979) * ''The End Is The Beginning'' (JDF 1980) * ''In-Between Positions'' (L&R, 1982) * ''Moments'' (Ear Rational, 1983) * ''Inneracion'' (Jdf, 1986) Record * ''Inner Conversations'' (Ear Rational, 1988) * ''Berlin Images'' ( Silkheart, 1991) * ''Naked Colours'' (Silkheart, 1991) * ''Passage'' (Ear Rational, 1991) * ''Silhouettes'' ( Progressive, 1993) * ''Vision in Time'' (Silkheart, 1994) * ''Revelation'' (Kali, 1995) * * ''New Orleans Rising'' (Konnex, 1997)) * ''Southern Extreme'' (Drimala, 1997) * ''Authenticity'' (Kali, 1998) * ''Relativity'' (Kali, 1998) * ''Alabama'' (Shipwreck, 2000) * ''InterView'' (IML, 2000) * ''The Present Gift'' (IML, 2001) * ''Lifeline'' (IML, 2002) * ''Dyami'' (Kali, 2003) * ''Live at the Noe Valley Ministry'' (Orchard, 2003) * ''Resolving Doors'' (Charles Lester, 2004) * ''Coherence'' (Jdf, 2006) * ''Enigma'' (Charles Lester, 2006) * ''Live at the Blue Monk'' (Charles Lester, 2006) * ''Possibilities'' (Ayler, 2006) * ''Traveling Through Now'' (Charles Lester, 2008) * ''Through the Mirror'' (

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that "C ...

, 2014) * ''Berlin Images'' Raphe Malik, Robert Adkins (1991) * ''To the Edge'' Raphe Malik, Robert Adkins (1991) * ''Love Remembered'' Kim Russell Siebert (1995) * ''Nickelsdorf Konfrontation'' Kidd Jordan, Alvin Fielder, Mats Gustafson Barry Guy (1995) * ''Intercoastal Blues'' Bruce Hyman (1998) * ''Who Are You'' (1999) * ''New Orleans Festival Suite'' Kidd Jordan, William Parker, Alvin Fielder (1999) * ''Paul Murphy/ Quartet'' Paul Murphy, Vattel Cherry, Jimmy Williams (2000) * ''As of Now'' Jimmy Williams (2000) * ''Sweet Silence'' Kim Russell Siebert, Kidd Jordan (2000) * ''Live at Tampere'' Kidd Jordan, Alvin Fielder (2000) * '' Enarre'' Paul Murphy, Kash Killion (2002) * ''Prayer for Peace'' Anthony Mirabile (2003) * ''Athena'' Greg Foster (2007) * ''Breakaway'' Paul Murphy, Jere Carroll (2007) * ''Live in Baltimore'' Ike Levin (2007) * ''Existence'' (2008) * ''Blues Here and Now'' (2008) * ''On the Blink of a Precipice'' Derwyn Holder (2008) * ''Spectrum'' (2008) * ''Transcending to Relaxation'' (2009) * ''Journey in the Now'' (2009) * ''Transition Volume 2'' DVD (2009) * ''Transition Volume 2'' CD (2009) * ''Transition Volume 1'' DVD (2009) * ''Transition Volume 1'' CD (2009) * ''Interaction'' Kidd Jordan (2009) * ''Celebration'' Ike Levin (2009) * ''Dialogues and Connections'' Ike Levin (2010) * ''Albert's Bells'' (2010) * ''Remembering Dolphy'' (2010) * ''Perception'' (2011) * ''The Fall'' (2011) * ''Live at the Guelph Jazz Festival'' (2011) Kidd Jordan, William Parker, Alvin Fielder (2011) * ''Blues for My Brother'' (2012) * ''Interinfinity'' Alvin Fielder (2013) * ''Reflection 1 Reflection 11'' (2015) * ''Pathways'' (2017) Joel Futterman * ''Live In Chicago'' (2017) Joel Futterman Ike Levin * ''Masters In Improvisation'' (2017) Kidd Jordan Joel Futterman Alvin Fielder Steve Swell * ''Transformation'' (2018) Joel Futterman Avreeayl Ra * ''Timeless Memories'' (2018) Joel Futterman Ike Levin Tim Duroche * ''Intervals'' Joel Futterman (2019) * ''Intervals 2'' (2019) Joel Futterman * ''Spirits'' (2020) Kidd Jordan Joel Futterman Alvin Fielder Recorded 1997 Released on Silkheart * ''TRIBUTE TO ALVIN FIELDER VISION FESTIVAL XXlV'' (2020) KIDD JORDAN JOEL FUTTERMAN WILLIAM PARKER HAMID DRAKE * ''IN-BETWEEN-POSITIONS'' (REISSUE 2020) JOEL FUTTERMAN JIMMY LYONS RICHARD DAVIS ROBERT ADKINS * ''WHY?'' (JDF 2020) * ''Timeless Moments'' (2021) * ''CREATION SERIES 1, 2, 3, 4, 5'' (2021) * ''Warp and Weft'' (2021) Joel Futterman Steve Hirsh * ''The Chicago River Concerts'' (2022) Joel Futterman Hal Russell CD 1 CD 2 CD 3 * ''ebb & flow'' (2022) Joel Futterman Chad Fowler Steve Hirsh * ''The Deep'' (2022) Joel Futterman William Parker Chad Fowler Steve Hirsh

Books

* ''Creative Patterns'' (JDF, 1973) * ''The Design'' (JDF, 2010) * ''The Question'' (JDF, 2015) * "Creative Patterns" 2nd ED. 2020

References

*Steve Huey,

Joel Futterman Joel Futterman (born April 30, 1946 in Chicago) is an American jazz pianist and soprano saxophonist. A native of Chicago, Joel Futterman was influenced both musically and philosophically by Gene Shaw, with whom he worked with and studied for a ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

*Gary W. Kennedy, "Joel Futterman". '' Grove Jazz'' online.

Official website

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Futterman, Joel American jazz pianists American male pianists Musicians from Chicago 1946 births Living people 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians NoBusiness Records artists