Melvin Rhyne (October 12, 1936 – March 5, 2013), was a

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 ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

best known for his work with

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

Biography

Melvin Rhyne was born in Indianapolis in 1936 and started playing the piano shortly after. At 19 years old, Rhyne started playing piano with then-unknown tenor saxophonist

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

but quickly switched over to the instrument that would make him famous: the Hammond B3 organ. Rhyne's piano skills translated to the organ fluently and before long he was backing famous blues players like B.B. King and T-Bone Walker. In 1959 he was asked to join fellow Indianapolis musician

's newly formed trio. Rhyne then moved to Wisconsin and largely kept to himself for the next two decades. In 1991, however, he played on Herb Ellis's album ''Roll Call'', Brian Lynch (musician), Brian Lynch's ''At the Main Event'', and his own album, ''The Legend''. He continued to be prolific in the years to come, releasing eight more solo albums on the Criss Cross Jazz label. Rhyne also recorded with The Mark Ladley Trio for the 1992 release, ''Strictly Business'' and the 1994 release, ''Evidence''. Both landed in the Jazz Charts at CMJ New Music Report and The Gavin Report. The group also appeared on a ''Jazziz'' Magazine sampler disc during that time. Altenburgh Records posthumously released, ''Final Call'' in 2013 by the same group. In 2008 Rhyne teamed up with fellow Indianapolis jazz musician Rob Dixon to form the Dixon-Rhyne Project, a boundary-pushing jazz quartet that also includes Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque and drummer Kenny Phelps. The quartet released the album ''Reinvention'' in 2008 on Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios. Rhyne's later career trio included guitarist Peter Bernstein (guitarist), Peter Bernstein and drummer Kenny Washington (musician), Kenny Washington in the same organ, guitar, drum formation of the original Wes Montgomery Trio. He died in his hometown of Indianapolis of lung cancer at the age of 76.

Discography

References

External links

Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhyne, Melvin 1936 births 2013 deaths Hard bop organists American jazz organists American male organists Musicians from Indianapolis American male jazz musicians The Dixon-Rhyne Project members Criss Cross Jazz artists Riverside Records artists