John D'earth (born March 30, 1950) is an American
post-bop
Post-bop is a genre of small-combo jazz that evolved in the early to mid 1960s in the United States. Pioneers of the genre, such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean, crafted syntheses ...
/
hard bop
Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...
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 m ...
trumpeter
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...
born in
Framingham
Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
who has appeared on recordings by
Dave Matthews and
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...
as well as recording a number of CDs on his own. He currently resides in
Charlottesville, Virginia.
Early
John Edward Dearth II was born in 1950 in
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a pop ...
, growing up in nearby
Holliston Holliston may refer to:
* Holliston, Saskatoon, Canada
*Holliston, Massachusetts, USA
**Holliston High School, a secondary school in Holliston, Massachusetts
* ''Holliston'' (TV series), a television show on Fearnet, set in Holliston, Massachusetts
...
. His father had survived the
Pacific theater of World War II
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the Theater (warfare), theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, ...
and was "obsessed" with jazz. D'earth, who added the apostrophe to his name later in life,
says of his progenitor, "He was a maniac for music and for jazz music. He was my first teacher. He revealed to me mysteries of art and music that are priceless."
His father would blast his records throughout the night, driving the family crazy. He would also sit with his two-year-old son, teaching him to play drum brushes on a metal tray. His father was "drawn to the complexities of be-bop" with its raw rhythms and stylings. "He hated white bands that were corny and tight," D'earth states. "Those were prejudices too, and I learned some of those prejudices early on."
The D'earth family lived in a house from the 1690s that had been The Littlefield Tavern during the
Colonial era. D'earth's parents divorced when he was eight, around the time he got his first trumpet. He immediately walked out into the yard and played it to the trees, discovering scales on his own.
Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ...
were D'earth's favorite band, but he also appreciated classical music. Jazz instruction wasn't so easy to find in the early 1960s, but D'earth crossed paths with Henry "Boots" Mussulli, who was a veteran of the
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
days.
This
Sicilian alto saxophone player and arranger had opened the
Sons of Italy
The Order Sons of Italy in America ( it, Ordine Figli d’Italia in America, OSIA) is the largest and the oldest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. A similar organization exists in Canada.
It has more than 600,000 me ...
Crystal Room, a
speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...
that presented acts like
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
and
Roy Eldridge
David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...
in nearby
Milford. He was part of a group of jazz instructors who helped form
Berklee College of Music.
One day Mussulli sat a young D'earth next to him and called a friend and simply said, "Listen." He and D'earth began improvising on the
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 ...
be-pop classic "Confirmation". When done, Mussulli picked the receiver and said, "Fourteen" — then hung up. That experience changed D'earth's life, confirming his musical gift. As a teenager,
DownBeat said of his performance at the
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...
that he played "like a young
Freddie Hubbard."
On Mussulli's impact D'earth says:
D'earth met Robert Jospé, a jazz drummer who would later relocate to Charlottesville and become a UVA music instructor, in 1967 at
The Cambridge School of Weston
The Cambridge School of Weston (also known as CSW or The Cambridge School) is an independent, coeducational high school in Weston, Massachusetts. Currently, the school has 325 students in grades 9 to 12, with approximately 70% day students an ...
, a preparatory high school near Boston. They started a group named Fire and Ice, and "began a collaboration that continues today."
Career
D'earth attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
briefly only to drop out and pursue his musical career. In his early years he played in
Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner.
Robert Moses may also refer to:
* Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist
* Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic
* Bob M ...
' innovative bands. He co-founded the group Cosmology (Vanguard Records) with bandmates drummer
Robert Jospe and singer Dawn Thompson — whom D'earth later married. Jospé, D'earth, and Thompson, whom he met in
New York, came to Charlottesville in 1981 for a summer and decided to settle there.
Before heading for New York City, Thompson had helped found the famed Prism Coffeehouse musical venue in Charlottesville.
D'earth serves as Director of Jazz Performance at the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
and was at one point the jazz artist in residence at
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...
. D'earth was music teacher at The Tandem School in Charlottesville from the early to mid-1980s.
D'earth regularly plays at Miller's Downtown on the Charlottesville pedestrian mall with other musicians including JC Kuhl, Pete Spaar,
Jamal Millner, Devonne Harris, Pureum Jin, Brian Caputo, Wells Hanley, Adam Larrabee, Brian Jones, and many others. He often played at Fellini's No. 9 with Devonne Harris (drums), Bob Hallahan (piano), and Pete Spaar (upright bass).
D'earth makes frequent appearances with younger up-and-coming players as well as older mainstay musicians alike in the
Richmond, Virginia area. D'earth is known for his work with musicians such as
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
,
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time.
Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...
,
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
, and
Emily Remler
Emily Remler (September 18, 1957 – May 4, 1990) was an American jazz guitarist, active from the late 1970s until her death in 1990.
Early life and influences
Born in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,Staff"Emily Remler Dies On Australia Tour; Gui ...
. He has recorded for
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...
,
ENJA Records
Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971.
The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Jap ...
, DoubleTime Jazz, and his own Cosmology label.
Discography
Solo
''On'' (Cosmology, 2013)
# Yo, Susannah
# What Woody Do (Adam's Vamp)
# Prelude II
# Outside Insight
# Market
# Goodbye Secret King (for
LeRoi Moore
LeRoi Holloway Moore (September 7, 1961 – August 19, 2008) was an American saxophonist. He was a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for songs written by Dave Matthews. Moore also co-wrote many of the band's ...
)
# Lady on a Train
# We Shall See
# Water Is The Blood of Earth
*John D'earth - trumpet, flugelhorn
*Pete Spaar - bass
*Wells Hanley - piano
*Devonne Harris - drums
*J.C. Kuhl - tenor saxophone
''Restoration Comedy'' (
Double-Time
In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially ''doubling the tempo resolution'' or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of approximate a single measure o ...
, 2000)
*John D'earth - trumpet, composer, producer
*Howard Curtis - drums
*
Mike Richmond - upright bass
*
Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller (August 13, 1955 – May 29, 2013) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. As a child he played in churches and was influenced on piano by Ramsey Lewis and then Oscar Peterson. Aspects of their styles remained i ...
- piano
*
Jerry Bergonzi
Jerry Bergonzi (born October 21, 1947) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Early life and education
Bergonzi received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1971 and is the founde ...
- sax
''Thursday Night Live at Millers'' (Cosmology, 1998)
*John D'earth - trumpet
*Dawn Thompson - vocals
*Jeff Decker and Bobby Read - saxophones
*
Jamal Millner - guitar
*Wells Hanley - piano
*Pete Spaar - upright bass
*
Robert Jospé - drums
*guest Doug Bethel -
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
*produced by
Greg Howard
''One Bright Glance'' (
Enja
Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971.
The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...
, 1990)
*John D'earth - trumpet, composer
*
John Abercrombie - guitar, guitar synthesizer
*
Marc Johnson - bass
*Howard Curtis - drums
*
Steve Gaboury - producer, engineer
With Thompson D'earth
''When the Serpent Flies'' (Cosmology, 2006)
*Dawn Thompson - vocals
*John D'earth - trumpet and
flugelhorn
*J.C. Kuhl -
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
*
Jamal Millner - guitar
*Daniel Clarke - piano
*Pete Spaar -
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...
*Brian Caputo - drums
*produced by
Greg Howard
''Mercury'' (Cosmology, 2001)
*Dawn Thompson - vocals
*John D'Earth - trumpet
*
Carter Beauford
Carter Anthony Beauford (born November 2, 1958) is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open-handed drumm ...
- drums
*
Dave Matthews - vocals
*
Jamal Millner - guitar
*Bobby Read - sax
*Wells Hanley - piano
*Pete Spaar -
upright bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...
*produced by
Greg Howard
As sideman
With
Ray Anderson
*''
Big Band Record
''Big Band Record'' is an album by trombonist Ray Anderson and the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band which was released on the Gramavision label in 1994.Rousell, PDiscography of Tim Berneaccessed June 28, 2018George Gruntz
George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker ...
Concert Jazz Band
With
Emily Remler
Emily Remler (September 18, 1957 – May 4, 1990) was an American jazz guitarist, active from the late 1970s until her death in 1990.
Early life and influences
Born in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,Staff"Emily Remler Dies On Australia Tour; Gui ...
*''
Transitions'' (
Concord Records
Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...
, 1983)
*''
Catwalk
A fashion show (French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fal ...
'' (Concord, 1985)
Honors, awards, distinctions
* D'earth appears in ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler
(Oxford University Press, 1999); pages 175–76.
Personal
D'earth appeared regularly with his vocalist wife Dawn Thompson, who died August 31, 2017 after surviving nine years with brain cancer. She was born in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
on October 9, 1946.
References
External links
*
John D'earth at the University of VirginiaJohn D'earth biography, discography and album reviews, credits & releasesat
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 databa ...
Web Archive of Thompson D'earth Bandofficial webpage.
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'earth, John
1950 births
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Post-bop trumpeters
Hard bop trumpeters
Living people
Musicians from Charlottesville, Virginia
Jazz musicians from Virginia
People from Holliston, Massachusetts
21st-century trumpeters
Jazz musicians from Massachusetts
21st-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Double-Time Records artists