Discover Top Posts Tagged with #gene shaw

Kenny Dorham in 10 Tracks

Kenny Dorham holds a special place in my heart since I booked him for my senior high school prom in 1966. KD was a thoroughly original composer and an inventive soloist. Ofttimes, his chops betrayed what he was playing on the trumpet. As a result, he was overlooked as Dizzy Gillespie. Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Gene Shaw and Booker Little played rings around him in execution. Yet his writing, harmonic ideas and lyrical playing had a resounding effect in this music.

-Michael Cuscuna

Read, listen and watch from JazzWax… Follow: Mosaic Records Facebook Tumblr Twitter

#Kenny Dorham #trumpet #Dizzy Gillespie #Miles Davis #Fats Navarro #Clifford Brown #Booker Little #Gene Shaw #classic jazz #Michael Cuscuna

See the interview with Gene Shaw on Arise and Shine with Rain Pryor and Priya Sridhar here: http://www.arise.tv/entertainment/arise-and-shine-15-11-9230

Gene's segment is at 17.25

Jazziversaries June 16th

Eli “Lucky” Thompson (saxophone) 1925-2005 :: was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. While John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing the soprano saxophone out of obsolescence in the early 1960s, Thompson (along with Steve Lacy), embraced the instrument earlier than Coltrane.

After playing with the swing orchestras of Lionel Hampton, Don Redman, Billy Eckstine (alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker), Lucky Millinder, and Count Basie, he worked in rhythm and blues and then established a career in bebop and hard bop, working with Kenny Clarke, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Milt Jackson.

Ben Ratliff notes that Thompson “connected the swing era to the more cerebral and complex bebop style. His sophisticated, harmonically abstract approach to the tenor saxophone built off that of Don Byas and Coleman Hawkins; he played with beboppers, but resisted Charlie Parker’s pervasive influence.” He showed these capabilities as sideman on many albums recorded during the mid-1950s, such as Stan Kenton’s Cuban Fire!, and those under his own name. He recorded with Charlie Parker (on two Los Angeles Dial Records sessions) and on Miles Davis’s hard bop Walkin’ session. Thompson recorded albums as leader for ABC Paramount and Prestige and as a sideman on records for Savoy Records with Milt Jackson as leader.

Thompson was strongly critical of the music business, later describing promoters, producers and record companies as “parasites” or “vultures.” This, in part, led him to move to Paris, where he lived and made several recordings between 1957 and 1962. During this time, he began playing soprano saxophone.

Thompson returned to New York, then lived in Lausanne, Switzerland from 1968 until 1970, and recorded several albums there including A Lucky Songbook in Europe. He taught at Dartmouth College in 1973 and 1974, then completely left the music business.

Javon Jackson(saxophone) 1965 ::Born day shout out to Javon Jackson. Javon is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He grew up in Cleveland and Denver, and studied at Berklee (1984-1986).He played in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers from 1987 until 1990.After Blakey's death, he worked with the Harper Brothers, Benny Green, Freddie Hubbard, and Elvin Jones.

A fine tenor saxophonist influenced by Joe Henderson, Javon Jackson helps to keep the legacy of Art Blakey and hard bop alive. Javon Jackson has recorded as a leader for Criss Cross and Blue Note, including 1991’s Burnin’ all the way to 2008’s Once Upon a Melody. Also in 2008, Jackson appeared live with soul-jazz legend Les McCann. In his solo career, his music has been a mix of hard bop with soul and funk influences.

Clarence Shaw(trumpet) 1926-1973 :: sometimes credited as Gene Shaw he was an American jazz trumpeter.

Shaw played piano and trombone as a child. He began playing trumpet around 1946 after hearing Dizzy Gillespie’s Hot House while recovering from injuries sustained in the Army. He attended the Detroit Institute of Music and studied under Barry Harris, and played locally with Lester Young, Wardell Gray, and Lucky Thompson.

He moved to New York City in 1956 and soon after began playing with Charles Mingus’s Jazz Workshop in 1957. Among his credits with Mingus is Tijuana Moods. Later that year he destroyed his instrument and quit music over a fight with Mingus. He did not return to playing until 1962, after which time he formed his own ensemble. He retired again in 1964 and returned to music once more in 1968.

Gregory Hutchinson (drums) 1970 :: Birthday greetings to drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Jazz Magazine describes him as “the drummer of his generation” and indeed, Gregory Hutchinson is one of the most highly respected musicians of our time. His mastery of timing and expression of rhythms is at the core of his personal style. He is a musician’s drummer, soundly rooted in the jazz tradition he is able to approach all styles of music with supreme accuracy and imagination, decorating compositions with his natural feel and mind blowing innovation. The Brooklyn native began to nurture his passion for playing at the very young age of 3. His dedication to the instrument was apparent in junior high school and his instructors took notice. At the young age of 12, he would arrive at school an hour early each day and stay behind an hour after. His professional career began right out of high school, when he was introduced to Red Rodney after playing in a Big Band for a year. He quickly became known as a young phenom in the jazz community sharing the stage with the likes of not only Rodney, but Betty Carter, and Ray Brown while still in his early twenties. He is one of the few musicians today who had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the great orginators of jazz music.

Since then he has worked with a virtual who’s who of the jazz world including: Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, Roy Hargrove, Charles Lloyd, Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride and Maria Schneider as well as many other’s. His time signatures and beat compositions have won him praise from the hip hop community as well leading him to work with powerhouses Common, Super producer Kareem Riggins and Questlove of the Roots. His experience and technique make him one of the most exciting musicians to watch and hear. He has the creative power to not only nurture, but challenge the very art of drumming. Dianne Reeves describes him as “Pure Genius.” Gary Giddins described his drum work as “Elegant” and more “like dancing.” Joshua Redman describes him as “Inspired.” To Hutch, his goal is to play the drums like Charlie Parker plays the horns, “I want to sing on the drums the way he sings on the horn.” If history is any indication, Gregory Hutchinson will indeed continue to be a formidable presence in the musical community.

#jazz #lucky thompson #javon jackson #gene shaw #greg hutchinson

Gene Shaw - Cha Bossa on Carnival Sketches, Argo, 1964.

A jazz album recorded by trumpetist Gene Shaw, arranged and composed by Richard Evans with Charles Stepney on vibes - the same who would arrange Rotary Connection, Minnie Ripperton first album, Ramsey Lewis and Earth Wind and Fire. This a latin-flavored jazz gem, and this cha bossa which appears like a cat is perhaps the best example of the honey-for-ears delivered throughout all the record.

#gene shaw #carnival sketches #jazz #argo