Results for "Chicago"

Bobby Broom

Born: January 18, 1961

Bobby Broom was born in Harlem, New York, on January 18, 1961, and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He began studying the guitar at age 12, concentrating on jazz under the aegis of Harlem-based guitar instructor Jimmy Carter. A 16-year-old prodigy at the High School of Music and Art (now known as the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts), he played in the jazz ensemble and was awarded for Outstanding Jazz Improvisation during his senior year.

Chaperoned by Weldon Irvine (an early mentor of his, composer for Freddie Hubbard and Horace Silver, bandleader for Nina Simone, and lyricist of “To Be Young, Gifted and Black”), the 16-year-old Broom found himself in an East Side NYC jazz club for the purpose of being taught to sit in. That lesson became a reality for Broom when Al Haig, pianist for Charlie Parker, invited him to join in for a couple of tunes. Impressed by the youngster’s playing, Haig offered him the chance to play with him at Gregory’s on the Upper East Side whenever he wanted. Broom ended up playing two or three times a week there, and also got to play, with great awe, with another notable Bird keyboardist, Walter Bishop, Jr.

Jack Wilson

Born: August 3, 1936

Jack Wilson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Wilson was born in Chicago on August 3, 1936, moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana at age seven. From 1949 to 1954, he studied piano with Carl Atkinson at the Fort Wayne College of Music. It was during this time that he was introduced to the music of George Shearing. Later picking up tenor saxophone, Wilson played in the Central High School band and began performing locally as a leader of small combos. By his fifteenth birthday, he had become the youngest member ever to join the Fort Wayne Musicians Union (Local 58). At the age of 17 he played a two-week stint as a substitute pianist in James Moody's band. After graduating from Central High, Wilson spent a year-and-a-half at the Indiana University, encountering Freddie Hubbard and Slide Hampton

Lennie Tristano

Born: March 19, 1919

A pianist of exceptional co-ordination and skill, for whom playing in different metres with each hand held no terrors, Lennie Tristano overcame blindness to become one of the leading teachers in jazz. While he was studying for his music degree in Chicago in the early 1940s, he had already begun playing and working with a circle of musicians who became his pupils - including saxophonist Lee Konitz and guitarist Billy Bauer. Tristano mastered the bebop style, playing both intricate runs and sustained chordal passages, and by the late 1940s was working in New York, where he made some significant discs with the musicians who had developed bebop - notably Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie

Lou Rawls

Born: December 1, 1933

From gospel and early R&B to soul and jazz to blues and straight-up pop, Lou Rawls was a consummate master of African-American vocal music whose versatility helped him adapt to the changing musical times over and over again, while always remaining unmistakably himself. Blessed with a four-octave vocal range, Rawls' smooth, classy elegance — sort of a cross between Sam Cooke and Nat King Cole — permeated nearly everything he sang, yet the fire of his early gospel days was never too far from the surface. He made his name as a crooner, first by singing jazz standards, then moving on to soul in the mid- '60s, and capped the most commercial phase of his career with a productive stint at Philadelphia International during the latter half of the '70s

Chris Potter

Born: January 1, 1971

A world-class soloist, accomplished composer and formidable bandleader, saxophonist Chris Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. Down Beat called him "One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet" while Jazz Times identified him as "a figure of international renown." Jazz sax elder statesman Dave Liebman called him simply, "one of the best musicians around," a sentiment shared by the readers of Down Beat in voting him second only to tenor sax great Sonny Rollins in the magazine's 2008 Readers Poll.

A potent improvisor and the youngest musician ever to win Denmark's Jazzpar Prize, Potter's impressive discography includes 15 albums as a leader and sideman appearances on over 100 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo work on "In Vogue," a track from Joanne Brackeen’s 1999 album Pink Elephant Magic, and was prominently featured on Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning album from 2000, Two Against Nature. He has performed or recorded with many of the leading names in jazz, such as Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, the Mingus Big Band, Jim Hall, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Ray Brown and many others.

Hod O'Brien

Born: January 19, 1936

There are jazz legends and then there are the “underground of the jazz renowned” – those who, although not as well known to the general public, are hailed by critics, revered by their legendary peers, influential upon younger players and sought after by collectors and cognoscenti. Hod O'Brien is one of these.
 Hod O’Brien is one of these quiet-and-true jazz giants. He burst upon the scene in the late 50s when he came to New York City from his hometown in the Berkshire Mountains of Northwest Connecticut near Lenox, Mass. and Tanglewood. He soon became part of the “loft scene” jamming with other bop-influenced players like Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Oscar Pettiford and Stan Getz, to name a few

John Lewis

Born: May 3, 1920

The Modern Jazz Quartet managed that rarest feat of all: to make great art that pleased the serious listener as well as it did the general public. The M.J.Q., as they were known, featured vibraphone, bass, drums, and piano, and yet had the breadth of an orchestra and the intimacy of the most delicate chamber ensemble. Even when they played music written by others, it sounded as though it had been written for them, but they played mostly original compositions by musical director John Lewis, about whom too much can never be said. His was one of those quintessentially American lives a tale of someone who truly invented a life based on a love of music. John Lewis is certainly a unique figure in American music

Lou Levy

Born: March 5, 1928

A superior bop-based pianist who has worked with a countless number of top jazz artists, Lou Levy started on piano when he was 12. He played with Georgie Auld (1947), Sarah Vaughan, Chubby Jackson (1947-1948), Boyd Raeburn, Woody Herman's Second Herd (1949-1950), Tommy Dorsey (1950), Auld again, and Flip Phillips. Levy was outside of music for a few years (1952-1954) and then gained a strong reputation as a fine accompanist to singers, working with Peggy Lee (on and off during 1955-1973), Ella Fitzgerald (1957-1962), June Christy, Anita O'Day, and Pinky Winters. Levy also played with Shorty Rogers, Stan Getz, Terry Gibbs, Benny Goodman, Supersax, and most of the major West Coast players

Howard Levy

Born: July 31

Howard Levy is a musician without limits. His musical adventures include journeys into jazz, pop, rock, world music, Latin, classical, folk, blues, country, theater, and film. He has appeared on hundred of cd’s, won a Grammy (1997), won a Joseph Jefferson Award (1986) for Best Original Music for a Play, and has performed many times on American and European television and radio.

Universally acknowledged as the world’s most advanced diatonic harmonica player, Howard developed a fully chromatic style on the standard 10 - hole diatonic harmonica, revolutionizing harmonica playing and taking the instrument into totally new territory. He is also an accomplished pianist and composer, and plays many other instruments as well, including flute, ocarina, mandolin, saxophone, and percussion.

Fareed Haque

Born: 1963

Fareed Haque is a modern guitar virtuoso. Steeped in classical and jazz traditions, his unique command of the guitar and different musical styles inspire his musical ventures with tradition and fearless innovation. Since 2011, Haque has returned to his first loves, jazz guitar and classical guitar. He has been busy performing and recording with his trio featuring legendary B3 virtuoso Tony Monaco, his own trio and jazz quartet, as well as his larger world music group the Flat Earth Ensemble. Recent releases include the critically acclaimed Out of Nowhere featuring drummer Billy Hart and bassist George Mraz, The Flat Earth Ensemble's latest release Trance Hypothesis, and The Tony Monaco/Fareed Haque release Furry Slippers that reached the top 10 in Jazz Radio Airplay. IN addition, Fareed has performed at the Chicago, Detroit, and Java Jazz festivals and was featured as part of the Made in Chicago Series performing with his numerous groups at Millenium Park's Pritzker Pavillion in Chicago