Michael Walter White (24 May 1930 – 6 December 2016) was an American

jazz violin Jazz violin is the use of the violin or electric violin to improvise solo lines. Early jazz violinists included: Eddie South, who played violin with Jimmy Wade's Dixielanders in Chicago; Stuff Smith; and Claude "Fiddler" Williams. Joe Venuti wa ...

ist. White born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, taking up the violin when he was six years old. His initial career break occurred in 1965, when he played with the

John Handy John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor and baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe. Biography Handy was born in ...

Quintet at the Monterey Jazz Festival, and subsequently recorded three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s with Handy. White was among the first to play the violin in

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...

, and in the late 1960s became one of the first jazz violinists to play

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyb ...

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

(with his band

The Fourth Way The Fourth Way is an approach to self-development developed by George Gurdjieff over years of travel in the Eastern World, East (c. 1890 – 1912). It combines and harmonizes what he saw as three established traditional "ways" or "schools": thos ...

). During his career, he played with musicians such as

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

Prince Lasha William B. Lawsha, better known as Prince Lasha (), (September 10, 1929 – December 12, 2008) was an United States of America, American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, baritone saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist and English horn player. Life a ...

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gram ...

, Eric Dolphy,

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 ...

, Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Dorham, Joe Henderson, John Lee Hooker, and Richard Davis. In early 2007, The Michael White Quintet's "Mechanical Man" won in the 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Jazz Song. White eventually settled in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. After a long period of obscurity, in the mid 1990s he was involved in a reunion of the Handy Quintet and recorded an album as co-leader with

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

, ''Motion Pictures'' (1997). In 2006 White released the album ''Voices''. He died on December 6, 2016.

Discography

As leader

*1971: ''

Spirit Dance Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the Native Americans in the United States. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual nations, tribes and bands. Early European ...

'' (

Impulse! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...

) *1972: ''

Pneuma ''Pneuma'' () is an ancient Greek word for "breath", and in a religious context for " spirit" or "soul". It has various technical meanings for medical writers and philosophers of classical antiquity, particularly in regard to physiology, and is ...

'' (Impulse!) *1973: '' The Land of Spirit and Light'' (Impulse!) *1974: '' Father Music, Mother Dance'' (Impulse!) *1974: '' Go with the Flow'' (Impulse!) *1978: ''The X Factor'' ( Elektra Records) *1979: ''White Night'' (Elektra) *1997: ''Motion Pictures'' (Intuition) *2006: ''Voices'' (Izniz)

As sideman

With

*'' Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival'' (Columbia, 1966) *'' Projections'' (Columbia, 1968) With John Lee Hooker *''

Never Get Out of These Blues Alive ''Never Get Out of These Blues Alive'' is a studio album by American blues musician John Lee Hooker, released in 1972 by ABC Records and recorded on September 28–29, 1971. Background The album features Van Morrison, Elvin Bishop, Charlie ...

'' (ABC, 1972) *''

Free Beer and Chicken ''Free Beer and Chicken'' is an album by blues musician John Lee Hooker recorded in California in 1974 and released by the ABC label the same year. Reception AllMusic reviewer Eugene Chadbourne stated: "In some ways this is a typical John Lee ...

'' (ABC, 1974) With

*''The Fourth Way'' ( Capitol Records, 1969) *''The Sun and Moon Have Come Together'' (1970,

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

) *''Werewolf'' (Harvest, 1970) With

Sonny Simmons Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician. Biography Simmons was born on August 4, 1933 in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. (Along w ...

*''Manhattan Egos'' ( Arhoolie, 1969 & 2000) *'' Burning Spirits'' (Contemporary, 1971) With

The Dead Science The Dead Science (formerly The Sweet Science) is an experimental pop band based in Seattle. The band consists of guitarist/vocalist Sam Mickens, Jherek Bischoff on bass and Nick Tamburro on drums. Jherek Bischoff's brother Korum was the drum ...

*'' Submariner'' (2003) *''

Bird Bones in the Bughouse ''Bird Bones in the Bughouse'' is the second EP from The Dead Science, released in 2004 on Absolutely Kosher Records. It includes a cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term fo ...

'' (2004) With Pharoah Sanders *''

Thembi ''Thembi'' is the seventh album by free jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, released in 1971. Overview Sanders moved away from the long, intense compositions of his earlier albums and produced an album of shorter tracks. He and other musicians pl ...

'' (Impulse!, 1971) *''

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

'' (Impulse!, 1973) *'' Message from Home'' (Verve, 1996) With

Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...

*'' John Coltrane: Infinity'' (1972) With

*'' Song for My Lady'' (1973) With Joe Henderson *'' The Elements'' (Milestone, 1973)

References

External links

Michael White Quintet official website
* Michael White— biography by Scott Yanow for AllMusic
Michael White
— biography at World Music Central {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Michael Free jazz violinists 1933 births 2016 deaths American jazz violinists American male violinists Impulse! Records artists Elektra Records artists Avant-garde jazz violinists Independent Music Awards winners American male jazz musicians The Fourth Way (band) members