Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist,
cornetist
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopra ...
, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpeters and composers of the twentieth century. He is often credited with revolutionizing the technical and harmonic language of modern jazz trumpet playing, and to this day is regarded by many as one of the major innovators of the instrument. He was an acclaimed virtuoso, mentor, and spokesperson for jazz and worked and recorded alongside many of the leading musicians of his time.
Biography
Early life and background
Woody Shaw was born in
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...
, United States. He was taken to
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. by his parents, Rosalie Pegues and Woody Shaw Sr., when he was one year old. Shaw's father was a member of the African American gospel group known as the "Diamond Jubilee Singers" and both his parents attended the same secondary private school as Dizzy Gillespie:
Laurinburg Institute
Laurinburg Institute is a historic African American preparatory school in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The school was founded in 1904 by Emmanuel Monty and Tinny McDuffie at the request of Booker T. Washington. Emmanuel McDuffie was a graduate ...
. Shaw's mother was from the same town as Gillespie:
Cheraw, South Carolina
Cheraw ( , ) is a city on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,040 at the 2020 census. The greater Cheraw area in the zip code 29520 has a population of 13,689 according to the 2019 ACS ...
.
Shaw began playing the
bugle
The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure.
History
The bugle developed from early musical or communication ...
at age nine and performed in the Junior Elks, Junior Mason, and Washington Carver Drum and Bugle Corps in Newark. Though not his first choice of instrument, he began studying classical trumpet with Jerome Ziering at Cleveland Junior High School at the age of 11. In a 1978 interview, Shaw explained:
The trumpet was not my first choice for an instrument. In fact, I ended up playing it by default. When we were asked what we wanted to play in the Eighteenth Avenue School Band, I chose the violin, but I was too late since all the violins were taken. My second choice was the saxophone or the trombone but they were also all spoken for. The only instrument that was left was the trumpet, and I felt why did I have to get stuck with this "tinny" sounding thing.
When I complained to my music teacher that I didn't think it was fair that all the other kids got to play the instruments they wanted, he told me to just be patient. He said he had a good feeling about me and the trumpet, and he assured me I'd grow to love it. Of course my teacher was right, and it didn't take long for me to fall in love with the trumpet. In retrospect, I believe there was some mystical force that brought us together.
Ziering encouraged him to continue his study of classical trumpet playing and pursue an education at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
of music with trumpet instructor William Vacchiano, but Shaw had a deep interest in jazz. His first influences were
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
and
Harry James
Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...
. After skipping two grades, he began attending
Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in Ninth through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. The school is located in ...
(alma mater of
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...
Melba Moore
Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith (sources differ) (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress.
Biography Early life and education
Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba ...
,
Savion Glover
Savion Glover (born November 19, 1973) is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer.
Early life
The youngest of three sons, Glover was born to a white father, who left the family before he was born, and a black mother. Glover's great grand ...
, Larry Young, and many others), from which he graduated.
As a teenager, Shaw worked professionally at weddings, dances, and night clubs. He eventually left school but continued his study of the trumpet under the influence of Gillespie,
Fats Navarro
Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 6, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, including Cl ...
,
Clifford Brown
Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", an ...
,
Booker Little
Booker Little Jr. (April 2, 1938 – October 5, 1961) – accessed June 2010 was an American
,
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 ...
, and Freddie Hubbard. He later discovered that he had picked up the trumpet during the same month and year that Brown died: June 1956.
Paris and Eric Dolphy (early 1960s)
In 1963, after many local professional jobs, Shaw worked for
Willie Bobo
William Correa (February 28, 1934 – September 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Willie Bobo,Biography ''AllMusic'' was an American Latin jazz percussionist of Puerto Rican descent. Bobo rejected the stereotypical expectations of Lat ...
Joe Farrell
Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name o ...
), and performed and recorded as a sideman with Eric Dolphy, with whom he made his recorded debut, ''
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
''. Dolphy, who was living in Paris, unexpectedly died in June 1964. Shaw was nonetheless invited to Paris to join Dolphy's colleague, Nathan Davis, and the two men found steady work all over Europe. While living in Paris, they frequented the club Le Chat Qui Peche, and Shaw crossed paths with musicians such as Bud Powell,
Kenny Clarke
Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...
,
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 ...
,
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...
Jef Gilson
Jean-François Quiévreux (25 July 1926 – 5 February 2012), better known as Jef Gilson, was a French clarinetist, pianist, arranger, vocalist, composer and big band leader.
"In the occupation of which he initiated groups" proved Gilson "an ex ...
. After some time, Shaw demanded that two of his contemporaries, organist Larry Young and drummer
Billy Brooks
William McKinley Brooks III (born July 22, 1953) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals 11th overall in the 1976 NFL Draft. He played college football at O ...
, be relocated to Paris. The four young musicians – Davis, Shaw, Young, and Brooks – continued living and performing in France, intermittently touring cities in Europe, including
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Germany.
Blue Note Records (mid-to-late 1960s)
By the mid-1960s, Shaw had successfully absorbed the concepts and influence of his mentor and friend, saxophonist Dolphy, and was meanwhile exploring the harmonic innovations of saxophonist
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...
and pianist
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 ...
. Both musicians contributed greatly to the development of Shaw's style as a trumpeter and composer.
Shaw returned to the U.S. from Paris in 1965, and began his career as one of the
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
labels regular trumpet players, working steadily with their roster of artists. He replaced
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 ...
in the
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 sc ...
quintet (1965–1966), and made his Blue Note debut on Silver's ''
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, ...
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...
'' (1965); the album with Young featured three of his compositions ("Zoltan", "Moontrane", and "Beyond All Limits"). "Moontrane", dedicated to Coltrane, was written when Shaw was 18 years old and was his earliest composition.
Shaw also collaborated frequently and recorded with Corea (1966–67, 1969),
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...
, and
Bobby Hutcherson
Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note album '' Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bob ...
. In 1968–69, he worked intermittently with
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...
, touring with him in Iran. Shaw also worked as a studio musician, and worked in pit orchestras and on Broadway musicals.
Contemporary and Muse (early-to-mid 1970s)
In 1970, Shaw recorded his first album as a leader, ''
Blackstone Legacy
''Blackstone Legacy'' is the debut album by trumpeter Woody Shaw recorded in 1970 and released on the Contemporary label.
,'' for
Contemporary Records
Contemporary Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Lester Koenig in Los Angeles in 1951. Contemporary produced music from a variety of jazz styles and players.
West Coast players
Contemporary became identified with a style of j ...
George Cables
George Andrew Cables (born November 14, 1944) is an American jazz pianist and composer.
Early life
Cables was born in New York City, United States. He was initially taught piano by his mother. He then studied at the High School of Performing Art ...
,
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards.
Biography
Bartz studied at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Wor ...
, Clint Houston, and Lenny White. This was followed by a second release under Shaw's name, entitled ''Song of Songs''. During this time, Shaw moved to San Francisco to explore new opportunities and became closely associated with musicians on the West Coast such as
Bobby Hutcherson
Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note album '' Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bob ...
, Eddie Moore, Eddie Marshall, and Henry Franklin.
In 1974, Shaw returned from California to New York, beginning an association with Muse Records, recording the albums – ''
The Moontrane
''The Moontrane'' is the third album led by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1974 and released on the Muse label.Love Dance'', '' Little Red's Fantasy'' and ''Iron Men'', with musicians from the mid-western creative black arts scene such as
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...
Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...
.
Columbia Records (late-1970s)
After working frequently with Hutcherson,
Art Blakey
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
, Tyner and others, Shaw emerged as a band leader during the early 1970s, which was a time when many jazz artists began to explore
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 ...
. A younger statesman among his elders, Shaw saw himself as an heir to the musical legacy of trumpeters such as Gillespie, Navarro, and Brown, and, being an alumnus of Blakey's Jazz Messengers, felt responsible for upholding the integrity and appreciation of the tradition.
After releasing several albums for the
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
label, Shaw signed to
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in 1977 following an endorsement from Miles Davis. He then recorded the albums ''
Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...
Woody III
''Woody III'' is an album by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1979 (with one live track from 1978) and released on the Columbia label.For Sure!'', and ''United''.
''Rosewood'' was nominated for two
Grammys
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
and was voted Best Jazz Album of 1978 in the '' DownBeat'' Readers' Poll, which also voted Shaw Best Jazz Trumpeter of the Year, and No. 4 Jazz Musician of the Year.
1980s
Throughout the 1980s, Shaw continued performing and recording as a leader with sidemen such as pianists Onaje Allan Gumbs,
Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller (August 13, 1955 – May 29, 2013) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. As a child he played in churches and was influenced on piano by Ramsey Lewis and then Oscar Peterson. Aspects of their styles remained i ...
, and
Larry Willis
Lawrence Elliott Willis (December 20, 1942 – September 29, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, and avant-garde.
Willis was born in New York Ci ...
Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and ma ...
, and trombonist Steve Turre, recording a number of more "traditional" but highly lyrical albums (''
Solid
Solid is one of the State of matter#Four fundamental states, four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and Plasma (physics), plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount o ...
'', '' Setting Standards'', '' In My Own Sweet Way'') consisting predominantly of standards and tunes from the hard bop repertoire. During this time he also worked on projects with saxophonists
Benny Golson
Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launch ...
,
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and ...
and
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...
, as well as fellow trumpeter Freddie Hubbard on three albums ('' Double Take'', and '' The Eternal Triangle'', reissued on Blue Note as ''The Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw Sessions'') and Golson's ''
Time Speaks
''Time Speaks'', subtitled ''Dedicated to the Memory of Clifford Brown'', is an album by saxophonist/composer Benny Golson that was recorded in 1982 and released on the Japanese Baystate label the following year. The album features trumpeters Fre ...
''.
Health issues and death
By the late 1980s, Shaw was nearly blind from
retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...
, an incurable degenerative eye disease. A user of
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
throughout his adult life, Shaw was in poor health when he returned to the U.S. in early 1989 from a lengthy stay in Europe—he needed a wheelchair at the airport. On the morning of February 27, 1989, Shaw was struck by a subway car in Brooklyn, New York, which mangled his left arm and caused other injuries including head trauma; doctors were forced to amputate his arm. The night before the accident, Max Roach sent a limousine to Newark where Shaw was staying, to take Shaw to the
Village Vanguard
The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...
to listen to Roach play. After the set, Roach put Shaw into a taxicab at around midnight with enough money to get back to Newark. Shaw did not go to Newark; it is unclear what led to the accident later that morning. During his hospital stay at Bellevue, Shaw suffered kidney failure, was put on a respirator and lost consciousness for more than a month. He died from kidney failure on May 10, 1989 at the age of 44.
Awards
*Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, Downbeat International Jazz Critics Poll (1977)
*Jazz Album of the Year, Downbeat Readers Poll: Rosewood (Columbia 1978)
*Best Trumpeter, Downbeat Readers Poll (1978)
*Grammy Nomination – Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist: Rosewood (1979)
*Grammy Nomination – Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group: Woody Shaw Concert Ensemble, Rosewood (1979)
* Best Trumpeter, Downbeat Readers Poll (1980)
* Downbeat Hall of Fame (1989)
Legacy revival
The years between 2003 and 2013 saw a resurgence of interest in, and recognition of, Shaw's music. In 2003, Shaw's son, Woody Louis Armstrong Shaw III, launched The Official Woody Shaw Website, which helped to bolster appreciation for Shaw's contribution to music. Since then, many of Shaw's long-out-of-print recordings have been reissued, remastered and repackaged, under the curatorial oversight of Shaw's son and long-time producer
Michael Cuscuna
Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records.
Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...
Woody III
''Woody III'' is an album by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1979 (with one live track from 1978) and released on the Columbia label.harmonic tendencies based on the
overtone series
A harmonic series (also overtone series) is the sequence of harmonics, musical tones, or pure tones whose frequency is an integer multiple of a ''fundamental frequency''.
Pitched musical instruments are often based on an acoustic resonator su ...
, and (d) its traditional association with intervals based more commonly on thirds and
diatonic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize Scale (music), scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, Interval (music), intervals, Chord (music), chords, Musical note, notes, musical sty ...
relationships.
In both his improvisations and his compositions, Shaw frequently used
polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key ...
, the combination of two or more tonalities or keys (i.e. multiple chords or harmonic structures) at once. In his solos, he often superimposed highly complex permutations of the
pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many an ...
and sequences of intervals that modulated unpredictably through numerous key centers. He was a master of
modality
Modality may refer to:
Humanities
* Modality (theology), the organization and structure of the church, as distinct from sodality or parachurch organizations
* Modality (music), in music, the subject concerning certain diatonic scales
* Modaliti ...
and used a wide range of harmonic color, generating unusual contrasts, using tension and resolution, dissonance, odd rhythmic groupings, and "over the barline" phrases, yet always resolving his ideas according to the form and harmonic structure of a given composition while adhering to the conventions of jazz improvisation and simultaneously creating new ones.
His "attack" was remarkably clean and precise, regardless of tempo (Shaw often played extremely fast passages). He had a rich, dark tone that was distinctive with a near-vocal quality to it; his intonation and articulation were highly developed, and he greatly utilized the effects of the lower register, usually employing a deep, extended vibrato at the end of his phrases. Shaw also often incorporated the
chromatic scale
The chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches (more completely, pitch classes) used in tonal music, with notes separated by the interval of a semitone. Chromatic instruments, such as the piano, are made to produce th ...
, which gave his melodic lines a subtle fluidity that seemed to allow him to weave "in and out" of chords seamlessly from all "angles".
Shaw was also born with an extraordinary memory and
perfect pitch
Perfect commonly refers to:
* Perfection, completeness, excellence
* Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages
Perfect may also refer to:
Film
* ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama
* ''Perfect'' (2018 film), a science ...
. Max Roach once stated: "He was truly one of the greatest. I first had occasion to work with Woody on a trip to Iran. One of the most amazing things was his uncanny memory. I was just flabbergasted. After one look, he knew all of the charts, no matter how complex they were."
Shaw's improvisational and composing style bears the influences of his idols Dolphy, Coltrane and Tyner, as well as many European modern classical and 20th-century composers, such as
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
,
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music edu ...
,
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
Anton Webern
Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
Colin McPhee
Colin Carhart McPhee (March 15, 1900 – January 7, 1964) was a Canadian-American composer and ethnomusicologist. He is best known for being the first Western composer to make a musicological study of Bali, and developing American gamelan along w ...
Brazilian music
The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo, ...
, and various other musics of the world.
Educator
Throughout his career, Shaw gave countless clinics, master classes and private lessons to students around the world.
During the 1970s, he and Joe Henderson were faculty members in
Jamey Aebersold
Wilton Jameson "Jamey" Aebersold (born July 21, 1939) is an American publisher, educator, and jazz saxophonist. His Play-A-Long series of instructional books and CDs, using the chord-scale system, the first of which was released in 1967, are an ...
's jazz camp.
NEA Grant-recipients who studied with Shaw include
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...
(musical director of Jazz at Lincoln Center), and Ingrid Monson (Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music, Harvard University).
Other students and apprentices included
Chris Botti
Christopher Stephen Botti ( ; born October 12, 1962) is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer.
In 2013, Botti won the Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, for the album ''Impressions''.
He was also nominated in ...
,
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz ( hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations.
Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis fr ...
, and
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...
.
Admiration among musicians
As a musician and trumpeter, Shaw was held in high esteem by his colleagues and is today seen as one of the most technically and harmonically advanced trumpet players in the history of jazz and of the instrument itself.
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
, a notoriously harsh critic of fellow musicians, once said of Shaw: "Now there's a great trumpet player. He can play different from all of them." Trumpeter Dave Douglas stated: "It's not only the brilliant imagination that captivates with Woody Shaw – it's how natural those fiendishly difficult lines feel... Woody Shaw is now one of the most revered figures for trumpeters today." Shaw is credited with having extended the harmonic and technical vocabulary of the trumpet. Upon hearing of Shaw's death in 1989, Wynton Marsalis stated: "Woody added to the vocabulary of the trumpet. His whole approach influenced me tremendously."
Multi-genre producer, instrumentalist and rapper, Madlib, also cites Shaw as an inspiration for his music. In an interview with Red Bull Music Academy, Madlib listed Shaw as his favorite trumpet player, saying of his music: "It’s electric and acoustic, traditional and non-traditional — that’s what I’m all about."
Travels
Throughout his life, Shaw travelled all over Europe. He first moved to France at 19. As a sideman with Roach, he traveled to Iran in 1969. He also toured such places as Japan, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia.
During a 1980s tour for the
United States Information Service
The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill ...
, Shaw ventured to such countries as Egypt, Sudan, and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. Recently, it has been discovered that Shaw spent significant time performing and giving clinics in India, working in cities such as New Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, and Calcutta. When asked by film producer Chuck France in an interview whether he thought traveling was important, Shaw responded: "Most definitely. I think every great artist should share his music with the world."
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
) – released in 1983
* 1970: ''
Blackstone Legacy
''Blackstone Legacy'' is the debut album by trumpeter Woody Shaw recorded in 1970 and released on the Contemporary label.
'' (
Contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
)
* 1972: '' Song of Songs'' (Contemporary)
* 1974: ''
The Moontrane
''The Moontrane'' is the third album led by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1974 and released on the Muse label.Love Dance'' (Muse)
* 1976: '' Little Red's Fantasy'' (Muse)
* 1976: ''
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...
(Muse) – released in 1980
* 1978: ''
Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...
Woody III
''Woody III'' is an album by trumpeter Woody Shaw which was recorded in 1979 (with one live track from 1978) and released on the Columbia label.For Sure!'' (Columbia)
* 1981: ''
United
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
'' (Columbia)
* 1982: ''
Lotus Flower
''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often re ...
'' (
Enja
Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971.
The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...
Elektra Musician
Elektra/Musician was a jazz record label founded as a subsidiary of Elektra Records in 1982. The label was headed by Bruce Lundvall and released its first batch of albums on February 12, 1982. The label ceased when Lundvall left Elektra to start ...
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
)
* 1986: ''
Bemsha Swing
This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk.
0-9 52nd Street Theme
A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" ...
'' (Blue Note) – released 1997
* 1986: ''
Solid
Solid is one of the State of matter#Four fundamental states, four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and Plasma (physics), plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount o ...
'' (Muse)
* 1986: ''
Dr. Chi
''Dr. Chi'' is an album by trumpeter Woody Shaw and the Tone Janša Quartet which was recorded in Slovenia in 1986 and released on the Timeless Records, Timeless label.In My Own Sweet Way'' (In + Out)
* 1987: '' The Eternal Triangle'' with Freddie Hubbard (Blue Note)
* 1987: ''
Imagination
Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...
HighNote
HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997.
Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Highn ...
Mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
Art Blakey
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
* ''
Child's Dance
''Child's Dance'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers recorded in 1972 and released on the Prestige label.Chick Corea
* ''Tones for Joan's Bones'' (1966)
* ''The Complete "Is" Sessions'' (Solid State Records,1969)
With Nathan Davis
* ''Peace Treaty'' (1965)
* ''Happy Girl'' (1965)
With Eric Dolphy
* ''Conversations (Eric Dolphy album), Conversations'' (Douglas, 1963)
* ''
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
'' (Douglas, 1963)
With
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...
* ''Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard'' (1976)
* ''Sophisticated Giant'' (1977)
* ''Gotham City (album), Gotham City'' (Columbia, 1980 [1981])
With George Gruntz
* ''For Flying Out Proud'' (1977)
* ''GG-CJB'' (1978)
With Louis Hayes
* ''Ichi-Ban (album), Ichi-Ban'' (Timeless, 1976) with Junior Cook
* ''The Real Thing (Louis Hayes album), The Real Thing'' (Muse, 1977)
* ''Lausanne 1977'' (1977)
* ''The Real Thing'' (1977)
With Joe Henderson
* ''If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem'' (Milestone, 1970)
* ''Joe Henderson Quintet at the Lighthouse'' (Milestone, 1970)
With Andrew Hill
* ''Grass Roots (Andrew Hill album), Grass Roots'' (
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
, 1968)
* ''Lift Every Voice (Andrew Hill album), Lift Every Voice'' (Blue Note, 1970)
* ''Passing Ships'' (Blue Note, 2003) - recorded in 1969
With
Bobby Hutcherson
Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note album '' Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bob ...
* ''Bobby Hutcherson Live at Montreux'' (Blue Note, 1973)
* ''Cirrus (album), Cirrus'' (Blue Note, 1974)
With
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...
* '''Bout Soul'' (Blue Note, 1969) - recorded in 1967
* ''Demon's Dance'' (Blue Note, 1970) - recorded in 1967
With Hank Mobley
* ''Reach Out! (Hank Mobley album), Reach Out!'' (Blue Note, 1968)
* ''Thinking of Home'' (Blue Note, 1970)
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 sc ...
* ''
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)
* ''The Jody Grind'' (Blue Note, 1966)
With Buddy Terry
* ''Natural Soul'' (Prestige, 1968)
* ''Pure Dynamite (Buddy Terry album), Pure Dynamite'' (Mainstream Records, Mainstream, 1972)
With Mal Waldron
* ''The Git Go – Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Soul Note, 1986)
* ''The Seagulls of Kristiansund'' (Soul Note, 1986)
With others
*
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards.
Biography
Bartz studied at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Wor ...
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards.
Biography
Bartz studied at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Wor ...
– ''2 MFs - Live at The Closet 1986'' (2020)
* Walter Bishop Jr. – ''Coral Keys'' (Black Jazz, 1971)
* Joe Chambers – ''The Almoravid'' (Muse, 1974)
* Stanley Cowell – ''Brilliant Circles'' (Freedom Records, Freedom, 1972)
* Booker Ervin – ''Tex Book Tenor'' (
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
, 1968 [2005]) – released in 1976 as part of ''Back from the Gig''
* Sonny Fortune – ''Serengeti Minstral'' (1977)
*
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and ...
Benny Golson
Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launch ...
– ''
Time Speaks
''Time Speaks'', subtitled ''Dedicated to the Memory of Clifford Brown'', is an album by saxophonist/composer Benny Golson that was recorded in 1982 and released on the Japanese Baystate label the following year. The album features trumpeters Fre ...
'' (Baystate, 1982) with Freddie Hubbard
* Lionel Hampton – ''Music of Charles Mingus'' (1977)
* Azar Lawrence – ''Bridge into the New Age'' (Prestige, 1974)
* Pharoah Sanders – ''Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun)'' (Impulse!, 1970)
*
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 ...
– ''Expansions (McCoy Tyner album), Expansions'' (Blue Note, 1968)
* Carlos Ward – ''Lito'' (Leo Records, 1988 [1989])
* Tyrone Washington (musician), Tyrone Washington – ''Natural Essence'' (Blue Note, 1967)
* Harry Whitaker – ''Black Renaissance'' (1976)
* Buster Williams – ''Pinnacle'' (1975)
* Larry Young (jazz), Larry Young – ''
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...
'' (Blue Note, 1965)
* Joe Zawinul – ''Zawinul (album), Zawinul'' (Columbia, 1970)
*Neil Swainson 49th Parallel (Concord 1987, Reel To Real 2020)
Woody Shaw discography at Discogs
Woody Shaw at All About Jazz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Woody
1944 births
1989 deaths
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Columbia Records artists
Deaths from kidney failure
Elektra Records artists
Enja Records artists
Hard bop trumpeters
The Jazz Messengers members
Mainstream jazz trumpeters
Muse Records artists
Musicians from Newark, New Jersey
Newark Arts High School alumni
Post-bop trumpeters
Red Records artists
Timeless Records artists
20th-century American musicians
American male jazz musicians
HighNote Records artists
20th-century American male musicians