Paul Winston Weeden (born 7 January 1923 in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
– 2 July 2011 in
Oslo) was an American-Norwegian jazz guitarist and bandleader.
Biography
In his hometown he played
Wes Montgomery and
J. J. Johnson
J.J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.
Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop.
Biograph ...
with his neighbor before moving to New York City and then
Philadelphia. He led the Paul Weeden Trio with organist
Don Patterson and drummer
Billy James, and they released an album with
Dexter Gordon and
Sonny Stitt
Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...
(
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...
, 1962). He also played in bands of
Coleman Hawkins and
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
in the 1960s.
After touring in Sweden in 1966, he moved to Norway in 1971. With
Magni Wentzel, Håkon Nilsen and
Svein Christiansen
Svein "Chrico" Christiansen (6 August 1941 – 25 November 2015) was a Norwegian jazz musician (drums), known from a number of recordings, and central on the Oslo Jazz scene.
Career
Christiansen started early to play drums in various ban ...
he made the ''I Remember
Clifford Clifford may refer to:
People
*Clifford (name), an English given name and surname, includes a list of people with that name
*William Kingdon Clifford
*Baron Clifford
*Baron Clifford of Chudleigh
*Baron de Clifford
*Clifford baronets
*Clifford fami ...
'' for
EBU
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...
's "Eurojazz" (
NRK, 1971).
Weeden was central to the people surrounding the
Club 7 venue, where he led the band Youngbloods as well as his own quartet (including drummer
Ole Jacob Hansen, guitarist
Bill Mulholland
William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was an Irish American self-taught civil engineer who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the largest city in C ...
, and bassist
Ray Taylor).
After the death of Freddie Green (1911–1987), Weeden replaced him on guitar in the
Count Basie Orchestra, recommended by
Harry Edison (1911–1999). He was contacted by the leader,
Frank Foster (1928–2011) and joined on tour from January 1988.
In the 1990s he performed his own October for recording, including
Vidar Johansen,
Odd Riisnæs, Roy Nikolaisen, Eivin Sannes, Rune Nicolaysen, Kristen Svendsen, and
Ole Jacob Hansen. The documentary ''Too Young To Be Old'' by Lene Midling-Jenssen (
NRK, 2003) shows Weedens collaboration with "Grønnes Bad&Jazzforsyning" from Flekkefjord.
This also led to record release (2003). He led up to 2006 his own quintet with Brinck Johnsen, Eivin Sannes, Kristen Svendsen and
Tom Olstad.
He lived in
Oslo to his death, and was the father of the musician Paul Weeden, Jr., Ronald Weeden, Cynthia Weeden, Genice DeLemos, Dwayne DeLemos, April Weeden, Rickey Weeden, Lasse Weeden, Dennis Michael Weeden, and Thomas Weeden.
Discography
* ''Now I Know Dreams Do Come True'' with Jimmy Coe (Weeden, 2000)
* ''Nice But Easy'' (Kultur & Spetakkel, 2003)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weeden, Paul
2011 deaths
1923 births
American emigrants to Norway
American jazz guitarists
Norwegian jazz guitarists
Norwegian jazz composers
People from Indianapolis