Results for "Detroit"

Barry Harris

Born: December 15, 1929

Dr. Harris has devoted his life to the advancement of Jazz and in the 1980’s founded the Jazz Cultural Theatre. For the past several decades Dr. Harris has been an exponent of the classic Jazz style that was developed by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Coleman Hawkins.

Harris' earliest musical mentor was his mother who played for church and taught him his first song at the age of 4. This led him studying with different teachers in Detroit. In intermediate school he played clarinet and somehow he heard Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Fats Navarro

Kenny Garrett

Born: October 9, 1960

Kenny Garrett is a jazz saxophonist. He was born in Detroit, MI in 1960. His father was a tenor saxophonist. Kenny's career took off when he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1978, then led by Duke's son, Mercer Ellington. Three years later he played in the Mel Lewis Orchestra (playing the music of Thad Jones) and also the Dannie Richmond Quartet (focusing on Charles Mingus's music). In 1984, he recorded his first album as a bandleader, Introducing Kenny Garrett. From there, his career has included 11 albums as a leader and numerous Grammy nominations. During his career, Kenny has played with many jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Brian Blade, Bobby Hutcherson, Ron Carter, Elvin Jones, and Mulgrew Miller

Curtis Fuller

Born: December 15, 1934

Curtis Fuller was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1934. He came to music late, playing the baritone horn in high school and switching to the trombone at age 16. Detroit, at the time, was the breeding ground for an astonishing pool of fresh, highly individual talent. Milt Jackson and Hank Jones had already gone to New York and made their names. But coming of age in Detroit in the early fifties were Fuller, Donald Byrd, Elvin and Thad Jones, Paul Chambers, Louis Hayes, Kenny Burrell, Barry Harris, Pepper Adams, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Red, Hugh Lawson, Doug Watkins, Tommy Flanagan and many others who would make the mid- decade migration to New York and eventually international recognition. In 1953, Curtis left the local scene to serve his two-year stint in the army, where he met and played with Cannonball Adderley and Junior Mance among others. When he returned home, he began working with Yusef Lateef's quintet

Tommy Flanagan

Born: March 16, 1930

Rarely has such unanimously unstinting praise been bestowed on a less self-congratulatory recipient. As genial and matter-of-fact off the stand as he is fiercely individual at the keys, Tommy Flanagan handles his world class ranking with an equanimity, a modesty, an easy friendliness not always associated with the psychic burden of being Number One. Perhaps because almost instant early recognition by his peers and the universal affection in which he has been held by them over the years has made for a warm and artistically rewarding roost in the jazz jungle for Tommy Flanagan. Or perhaps it is owing to his wholesome origins, as one of six children of an upwardly striving, musically enthusiastic family in Detroit. Whatever, Flanagan made his professional debut in 1945 at age 15, joining forces with fellow Motor City budding heavyweights Milt Jackson, Thad Jones, Elvin Jones and Kenny Burrell, playing clubs like the Bluebird, Detroit’s renowned jazz room

Thornetta Davis

Crowned “Detroit’s Queen of the Blues” in 2015, Thornetta Davis a multi-talented International Singer and Songwriter from Detroit MI, USA is the Winner of over 30 Detroit Music Awards, including sweeping the 2017 and 2018 DMA’S. Thornetta has been exciting and wowing audiences all over the world. Her voice is strong, commanding, melodic and smooth. She tells her stories with incredible delivery and leaves her audiences wanting more. Backed by her great band of Detroit Musicians. She first gained attention in 1987 when she became back up singer for the Detroit soul band “Lamont Zodiac and The Love Signs”

Kenny Cox

Born: November 8, 1940

Kenny Cox was a jazz pianist performing in the post bop, hard bop and bebop mediums. Cox was pianist for singer Etta Jones during the 1960s and was also a member of a quintet led by trombonist George Bohannon. By the end of the late 1960s he had formed his own Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, which recorded two albums for Blue Note Records before the end of the decade. Cox has appeared as a contributor on various albums, and has also performed live with such musicians as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eddie Harris, Jackie McLean, Roy Haynes, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Dorham, Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Roy Brooks, Charles McPherson, and Curtis Fuller

Alice Coltrane

Born: August 27, 1937

For more than five decades, the Coltrane name remains at the forefront of modern music. It is lauded throughout the United States as well as internationally where it has received great acclaim. The musical offerings cover an eclectic variety of artistic expressions recorded on ABC Impulse, Warner Bros., and Impulse- Universal. She was born and raised in the religious family of Solon and Anne McLeod in Detroit, Michigan, once hailed as a major musical capitol. Alice became interested in music and began her study of the piano at the age of seven

Dennis Coffey

Born: November 11, 1940

Dennis Coffey is an American original. Only in America (and specifically, only in Detroit) could one man play guitar with a group of legends as diverse as Del Shannon, The Temptations, and George Clinton and Funkadelic. However, the list of iconic artists, producers and writers Dennis has worked with the world over only scratches the surface of what the man has done and the contributions he’s made to the canon of popular music. Dennis Coffey first began to make his mark as a member of The Royaltones, a group which had hits in the late 50’s and early 60’s and who performed sessions with other artists, including Del Shannon

Ron Carter

Born: May 4, 1937

Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music's greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, and Bobby Timmons. Ron Graduated the Eastman School in 1959 and packed up his belongings and moved to New York City with his wife, Janet. Later that year, Downbeat magazine listed Ron as #15 of 23 in their bass player poll. A great start. In the early 1960s he performed throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy