Roger Humphries (born January 30, 1944) 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 ...
drummer.
Born into a family of ten children in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Humphries began playing drums at age four, and went professional at age 14. He led an ensemble at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
at age 16. Early in the 1960s, he began touring with jazz musicians; one of his more prominent gigs was in a trio with
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...
and
Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ".
Life and career
Scott was born in Phi ...
in 1962. In 1964, he worked with
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...
, appearing on the album ''
Song for My Father
''Song for My Father'' is a 1965 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, released on the Blue Note label in 1965. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver's father, John Tava ...
'', where he played on four tracks, including
the title tune. (On the same album
Roy Brooks
Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American jazz drummer.
Biography Early life
Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in church. He was a ...
played on two tracks from a session recorded a year earlier). Following this Humphries drummed for
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
.
Humphries's list of credits in jazz, R&B, and pop is extensive. Musicians he has played with, in addition to the above, include
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...
,
Grant Green
Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...
,
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...
,
Bill Doggett
William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk" ...
,
Benny Green,
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...
,
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...
, Barry Harris,
Clark Terry
Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator.
He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...
,
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 ...
,
Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
,
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...
,
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...
,
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 ...
,
Jack McDuff
Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era ...
,
Gene Harris
Gene Harris (born Eugene Haire, September 1, 1933 – January 16, 2000) was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz.
From 1956 to 1970, he played in The Three Sounds trio ...
,
George Harris,
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
,
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis (born July 24, 1953) is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known ...
,
Slide Hampton
Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tuba and flugelho ...
,
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...
,
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (incl ...
,
Randy Brecker
Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B.
Early life
Brecker was born on Nov ...
,
Joe Williams,
Milt Jackson
Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...
,
Jimmy Witherspoon
James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer.
Early life, family and education
Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...
,
Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...
,
Dwayne Dolphin
Dwayne Dolphin is a jazz and funk bassist.
Biography
Dolphin plays acoustic bass and bass guitar (including piccolo bass).[Isley Brothers Isley is an English surname. The name can also be used as an anglicized variant for the German surnames Eisele and Eisler. Notable people with the surname include:
*The Isley Brothers, American musical group
**Ernie Isley (born 1952), American mus ...](_ ...<br></span></div>, <div class=)
, and
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo.
Although he was a pioneer of t ...
.
Humphries led his own band in the early 1970s, R.H. Factor, and led ensembles under other names into the 1990s. He has also held teaching positions at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
and the
Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6–12 (CAPA) is a magnet school located in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. CAPA is one of four 6th to 12th grade schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. It was formed from a me ...
. He released albums under his own name in 1993, 2003, and 2011.
Discography
*
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...
''
Song for My Father
''Song for My Father'' is a 1965 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, released on the Blue Note label in 1965. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver's father, John Tava ...
'' (Blue Note, 1964)
*
Carmell Jones
Carmell Jones (July 19, 1936 – November 7, 1996) was an American jazz trumpet player.
Biography
Jones was born in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. He started piano lessons at age five, and trumpet lessons at age seven. His first professional ...
''
Jay Hawk Talk
''Jay Hawk Talk'' is the third studio album by trumpeter Carmell Jones. Recorded and released in 1965, it was Jones' debut on Prestige and his final album as a leader.
Track listing
''All compositions by Carmell Jones, unless otherwise noted''
...
'' (Prestige, 1965)
*
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...
''
The Cape Verdean Blues
''The Cape Verdean Blues'' is a 1966 album by a jazz quintet led by pianist Horace Silver. The quintet is augmented on the last three tracks on the album by trombonist J. J. Johnson. The album was inspired by Silver's father, John Tavares Silva, ...
'' (Blue Note, 1965)
*
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...
''
The Jody Grind
''The Jody Grind'' is a 1966 recording by Horace Silver featuring both a quintet and a sextet. Released the following year on his longtime label Blue Note, it peaked No. 8 of the ''Billboard'' jazz album charts. As one of his "groove-centered" r ...
'' (Blue Note, 1966)
*Frank Cunimondo ''Trio Introducing Lynn Marino'' (Mondo, 1969)
*
Nathan Davis ''Makatuka'' (Segue, 1971)
*
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...
''
Live 1964
''Live 1964'' is a live album by jazz pianist Horace Silver recorded on June 6, 1964, in "The Cork & Bib" nightclub in Westbury, Long Island, New York, on June 6, 1964 but released only in 1984 on the Emerald Records label.
Track listing
Perso ...
'' (Emerald, 1984)
*Roger Humphries and the RH Factor "This 'n' That" (Corona 1992)
*
Dwayne Dolphin
Dwayne Dolphin is a jazz and funk bassist.
Biography
Dolphin plays acoustic bass and bass guitar (including piccolo bass).[Jimmy Ponder
Jimmy Ponder (May 10, 1946 – September 16, 2013) was an American jazz guitarist.
Career
When Ponder's brother entered the military, he left his guitar, and Ponder picked it up. In his early teens he received lessons from the guitarist in a ba ...](_ ...<br></span></div> ''Portrait of Adrian'' (Minor Music, 1993)
*<div class=)
''
Something to Ponder
''Something to Ponder'' is an album by guitarist Jimmy Ponder that was released by Muse in 1996.
Track listing
All compositions by Jimmy Ponder except where noted
# "Johnny's Place" – 4:14
# "Since I Fell for You" (Buddy Johnson) – 12:11
...
'' (Muse, 1994)
*Steve Rudolph ''Everything I Love'' (R&L Jazz, 1995)
*Al Dowe & Etta Cox ''Sunday Jam'' (1996)
*
Nancy Wilson ''A Nancy Wilson Christmas'' (MCG Jazz 2001)
*Roger Humphries Big Band ''Don't Give Up'' (2003)
*
Bill Heid
Bill Heid (born August 11, 1948) is an American jazz pianist and organist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Discography
* ''This Is My Rifle'' (Westside, 1994 996
* ''Bop Rascal'' (Savant, 1996 997
* ''Bassett Hound'' with Johnnie Bassett (Fedora, ...
''Air Mobile'' (Doodlin', 2006)
* Roger Humphries and the RH Factor "Keep the Faith" (Corona 2011)
*
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...
featuring
Woody Shaw
Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...
"Live at The Half-Note" (2015)
References
*
External links
Official website
American jazz drummers
Musicians from Pittsburgh
1944 births
Living people
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
{{US-jazz-drummer-stub