Jazz Articles about Mike Phineas Newborn

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Mike Phineas Newborn, Jr.: The Piano Artistry of Phineas Newborn / Phineas' Rainbow

by C. Michael Bailey
April 12, 2002

Phineas, we hardly knew ye...

Whiteville, Tennessee native Phineas Newborn, Jr. swam in a pool of mental and physical challenges most of his professional life. Between the mid-1950s and the mid-'70s, Newborn was to bob to the surface to produce one masterpiece after another. Technically brilliant, Newborn was probably a bit closer to the aesthetic of Bud Powell (both personally and professionally) than Art Tatum, while possessing the depth and breadth of both. That would make him close to Oscar ...