Results for "Milt Buckner"

Milt Buckner

Born: July 10, 1915

A colorful and versatile musician who was comfortable while on the piano, or stretching out on the Hammond organ. Milt Buckner was also quite the character and very much the jovial entertainer.

Orphaned as a child, Buckner was taught music by an uncle in Detroit. He started playing piano and arranging for local bands such as The Harlem Aristocrats and The Dixie Whangdoodles - by the late 1920s. After joining drummer Don Cox's band in 1932, Buckner began experimenting with patterned parallel chords, becoming famous as the earliest purveyor of what came to be known as "block chords" or "locked hands" style;, he then attracted the attention of McKinney's Cotton Pickers in 1934 for whom he wrote arrangements.

Tim Warfield: One For Shirley

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 20, 2024

Jimmy Smith and Larry Young have continually set the benchmark for creative endeavors involving jazz and the Hammond B-3 organ, Smith being acknowledged for bringing the technical virtuosity of be-bop to the instrument and Young for expanding the vernacular based on the forward-thinking implications of John Coltrane. Somewhere in between these two, a colorful range of ...

Anthony E. Nelson Jr.: Swinging Sunset

by Pierre Giroux
June 11, 2023

The fascination with Hammond B3 organ trios, which were so prevalent in the '50s and '60s, remains undiminished. And rightly so as there were some stellar organists who were plying their trade in that period, including Jimmy Smith, Milt Buckner and Wild Bill Davis. However, the mystique around the clubs in which these performers played may ...

Backgrounder: Milt Bucker's 'Block Chords Parade'

October 27, 2022

What are block chords? That's when a pianist (or guitarist) plays a melody with chords rather than individual notes. This is done with the top note of the chord playing the melody line with chord notes below creating the harmony. Block chords are often played on piano with a “locked hands" technique, when both hands play ...

Milt Buckner: Locked Hands

November 9, 2017

Yesterday I posted on Go Power!, saxophonist Illinois Jacquet's 1966 album with Milt Buckner on organ and Alan Dawson on drums. In the post, I mentioned that Buckner had created the locked-hands technique on the piano keyboard. Unleashing this difficult approach requires that both hands play the same chords with the song's melody note up on ...

The Early Years of Sonny Stitt in Saginaw, Michigan

by Dustin Mallory
January 4, 2017

As one of most recorded saxophonists of his generation, Sonny Stitt made more than 100 albums under his own name. He also performed as a sideman with the likes of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey. Despite the breadth of recorded work he left behind, Sonny Stitt's upbringing in Saginaw, Michigan is less well-documented. The ...

The Jazz Bridge "Jazz At The Library,” Third Thursday Concert Series In Willingboro, NJ Presents Bootsie Barnes

October 20, 2014

The Jazz Bridge “Jazz at the Library,” Third Thursday Concert Series presents saxophonist Bootsie Barnes at the Willingboro Library—220 Willingboro Way in Willingboro Township—on Thursday, December 18. Tickets are $10, $5 for students One show starts at 7:30 p.m. Information: 215-517-8337. Robert “Bootsie” Barnes embodies the spirit and the tradition—past, present and future—of everything that was ...

Jazz Bridge Second Wednesdays Concert Series In Center City Presents "Bootsie" Barnes

December 20, 2013

The Jazz Bridge second Wednesdays, Neighborhood Concerts Series at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion Chestnut Street in Center City Philadelphia—presents saxophonist Bootsie Barnes on Wednesday, January 8. Showtime is 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10/$5 for students, and are only available at the door. For info: 215-517-8337. Robert “Bootsie” Barnes embodies the spirit and the ...

Vocalist Pearl Williams In Media Pa On Wednesday May 15th!

April 23, 2013

Appearing at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County—145 West Rose Tree Road in Media—on Wednesday, May 15th is singer Pearl Williams. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, and are available only at the door. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Information: 215-517- 8337. Pearl Williams embodies, embraces and perpetuates the legacy of legendary Philadelphia jazz singers. ...

Dr. Lonnie Smith: But Beautiful

by Chris M. Slawecki
October 22, 2012

Dr. Lonnie Smith-organist, composer, bandleader and now principal of Pilgrimage Records-is the Cheshire cat of jazz. He's been part of the scene for so long that, even though he's there, he sometimes disappears from view; when you do get a glimpse, the last thing you see and the first thing you remember is his warm and ...