Results for "French Horn"

Julius Watkins

Born: October 10, 1921

Julius Watkins was an American jazz musician, and one of the first jazz French horn players. He won the Down Beat critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for "miscellaneous instrument" with French horn named as the instrument. Watkins was born in Detroit, Michigan. He started playing French horn when he was nine years old, having played the trumpet, the recognized jazz instrument, for the Ernie Fields Orchestra in the mid-1940s. By the late 1940s, however, he had played some French horn solos on Kenny Clarke and Babs Gonzales' records. After moving to New York City, Watkins studied for three years at the Manhattan School of Music

John Graas

Born: March 14, 1917

John Graas was an American jazz French horn player, composer and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz.

Vincent Chancey

Adam Unsworth

Born: December 29, 1968

The highly disciplined, truck driving, pavement pounding, nail banging, Civil War buff (His self-renovated fixer-upper even dates back to 1865), and proud papa of three debunks popular music mythology: classical musician does not equal jazz artist. Adam Unsworth, French hornist with The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1998 embraces the jazz idiom with the same guile and gusto as he does everything else in life. At age 10, Unsworth confided in his first horn instructor, a professor at the local University, “I’m going to be principal horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra.” Well, almost, but the fall of 2005 is where the story takes an alternate route. His ride began in 1968

Tom Varner

Born: June 17, 1957

Tom Varner--one of the world's top jazz French horn players, and an inventive composer for his many ensembles. Tom has 11 cd's out as a leader,and he plays on over 70 others. After 26 years in Manhattan, Varner moved with his family to Seattle in fall 2005, and is now busy in the Northwest as well as in the international scene.

John Graas: French Horn Jazz

April 24, 2019

According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, the French horn in jazz dates back to 1921. By the 1930s, the instrument was popping up on recordings by Bing Crosby and Woody Herman. In the 1940s, Artie Shaw, Claude Thornhill, Harry James and other bandleaders included the horn when they added strings. Neal Hefti used Vincent Jacobs on ...