Michael Abene (born July 2, 1942) 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 known for accompanying singers and arranging music.

Early life and education

Abene was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, grandfather, and aunt were musicians. He studied composition at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

Career

Abene has accompanied

Susannah McCorkle Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Life and career A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...

Julius La Rosa Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s. Early years La Rosa was born of Italian-immigrant parents in the Brooklyn borough ...

, and others. He had his first

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

''Solo Piano'' in 1986. Abene co-produced the album ''Avant Gershwin'', which won the

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the vocal jazz ...

in 2007.

Discography

As leader

1986: ''You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby'' (recorded December 1984)

As sideman

With

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

*''

Maynard '62 ''Maynard '62'' is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in late 1961 and originally released on the Roulette label.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson discography accessed May 31, 2016 Reception AllMusic aw ...

'' (Roulette, 1962) *'' Si! Si! M.F.'' (Roulette, 1962) *''

Maynard '63 ''Maynard '63'' is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in March 1962 and originally released on the Roulette label.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson discography accessed February 8, 2017 Reception AllM ...

'' (Roulette, 1962) *''

Message from Maynard ''Message from Maynard'' is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in early 1962 and originally released on the Roulette label.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson discography accessed February 7, 2017 Recep ...

'' (Roulette, 1962) * ''

Maynard '64 ''Maynard '64'' is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson collecting tracks recorded between 1959 and 1962 which was originally released on the Roulette Records, Roulette label.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson discography accessed Fe ...

'' (Roulette 1959-62

963 Year 963 ( CMLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 15 – Emperor Romanos II dies at age 25, probably of poison admini ...

*'' The New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson'' (Cameo, 1963) *''

Come Blow Your Horn ''Come Blow Your Horn'' is Neil Simon's first play, which premiered on Broadway in 1961 and had a London production in 1962 at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Simon rewrote the script more than two dozen times over several years, resulting in a hit ...

'' (Cameo, 1963) *'' Color Him Wild'' (Mainstream, 1965) *''

The Blues Roar ''The Blues Roar'' (also released as ''Screamin' Blues'') is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in 1964 and originally released on the Mainstream label.Edwards, D., Callahan, Eyries, P., Watts, ...

'' (Mainstream, 1965) *''

The Maynard Ferguson Sextet ''The Maynard Ferguson Sextet'' (also released as ''Six by Six'') is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in 1965 and originally released on the Mainstream label.Edwards, D., Callahan, Eyries, P. ...

'' (Mainstream, 1965) *'' Ridin' High'' (Enterprise, 1967) With

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

*''

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

'' (Solid State, 1969) With Urbie Green *'' The Fox'' (CTI, 1976) With

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform music of Afro-Jazz, ...

*''Solar Heat'' (Skye, 1968)

References

Jazz arrangers 1942 births Living people 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-pianist-stub