Results for "Philadelphia"

Tommy Campbell

Born: February 14, 1950

Tommy Campbell grew up outside of Philadelphia steeped in a musical environment, permeated with the notes of his father, an organist and singer, and his uncle, Jimmy Smith, the renowned Hammond B-3 virtuoso. “I was surrounded by music from the time I was two years old. My father and drummer Mickey Roker would rehearse at the house a lot. Whenever Uncle Jimmy had a new record he was releasing, he’d come over with a prerelease copy. We would listen to it together as a family. I used to play along with those records for hours.” Tommy attended the Berklee College of Music, the international center for education in professional music renowned for its acclaimed Jazz faculty, where he majored in instrumental performance (1979) and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998. Campbell’s long tenure with Dizzy began in the late 70’s, and continued through the 80’s and 90’s, and concluded with a personal jam session with the renowned master several months before Gillespie’s passing in January of 1993. “Dizzy taught me to be as relaxed and loose about the music

Jim Pugh

Born: November 12, 1950

Jim Pugh is a distinguished trombonist, composer, and educator. The inspiring virtuosity and wonderful versatility he has demonstrated during the course of his career has caused Jim to be often honored as the "musician’s musician". Whether he is performing as a concerto soloist in a symphonic setting, recording and touring with legendary artists in the fields of classical, jazz, & rock, or bringing forth his own exciting new compositions that expand the role of brass in contem¬porary music, his creativity knows no boundaries. Early years: Jim began studying piano at age five and trombone at age ten

Butch Ballard

Born: December 26, 1918

George Edward “Butch” Ballard (b. December 26, 1918) is an American jazz drummer who during his long career has played with musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Ballard was born in Camden, New Jersey and grew up in Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child he followed American Legion parades near his home, focusing particularly on the drummer. When he was about 10 years old, Ballard's father bought him a set of drums from a pawnbroker and he began to take lessons for 75 cents each. He got the nickname “Butch” after Machine Gun Butch, a character in the 1930 film The Big House

Duane Eubanks

Born: January 24, 1969

Duane Eubanks simmers. Percolates. The jazz trumpeter/ composer/arranger/producer is a multi-talented force whose fiery blasts and sweet distinctive sound carry his horn into a musical space that defies categorization. There’s a gritty soul and passion that emphatically captures his Philadelphia roots on his most recent pair of albums as a bandleader: “Things of that Particular Nature” (2015-Sunnyside) and “DE3-Live at Maxwell’s (2016-Sunnyside).

“Duane is one of my all-time favorite brass men. One of the most honest musicians I've come across. He plays from the heart, coming from such a rich musical family tree." Roy Hargrove - Grammy Award winning trumpeter.

Dwayne Burno

Born: June 10, 1970

Dwayne Burno made his entry into this world on June 10, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city rich in its musical traditions and history. He gained his initial musical exposure to music through his mother. "My mother is my first musical influence. She told me of the times when she sat me on her lap while she accompanied, directed, and sang with the church choir which she continues to do to this very day." Dwayne's first chosen musical instrument was the violin which he played until his unexpected first encounter with the double bass. "During my junior year of high school, I was told to begin learning and playing the bass

Mickey Roker

Born: September 3, 1932

Granville "Mickey" Roker is an American jazz drummer. Roker was born into extreme poverty in Miami to Granville (Sr.) and Willie Mae Roker. After his mother died (his father never lived with them), when he was only ten, he was taken by his grandmother to live in Philadelphia with his uncle Walter, who gave him his first drum kit and communicated his love of jazz to his nephew. He also introduced the young Roker to the lively jazz scene in Philadelphia, where the great Philly Joe Jones became Roker's idol. Roker learned quickly, and he never stopped playing. In the early 1950s he started to gain recognition as a sensitive and yet hard-driving big-band drummer

Bobby Zankel

Born: December 21, 1949

Writing in the Boston Phoenix, author Norman Weinstein (A Night in Tunisia) declared that “Bobby Zankel deserves any Talent Deserving Wider Recognition Award that the jazz press might offer”.

In reviewing Emerging From The Earth, Jazz Times wrote,” He’s headed to status as a prime jazz innovator.” But who is Bobby Zankel, and where has he been? The Brooklyn-born composer/saxophonist first began attracting attention in the early 70’s for his work with Cecil Taylor’s “Unit Core Ensemble” (Downbeat 9/71) as a “skillful young altoist with a powerful music at his fingertips”. His underground reputation grew on the New York “Loft Scene”, where he performed with the likes of Ray Anderson, William Parker, and Sunny Murray and where he continued his apprenticeship with Taylor.

George Young

Born: November 6, 1947

George Young is one of the most frequently heard musicians of our time. Young plays over ten instruments, including Tenor, Alto, Soprano, Sopranino Saxophones, Clarinet, Alto flute, C flute, East Indian ethnic flutes and Piccolo. George has played with Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Pavarotti, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Dizziy Gillespie, Sony & Cher, Tony Bennett, and the list goes on. Read more » Young has contributed to many television and motion-picture soundtracks, including Miller's Crossing, My Blue Heaven, My Name is Earl, Naked Gun 2 1/2, New York, New York, The Simpsons ('03/'04 Season), Sleepless In Seattle, Tootsie, Working Girl, You've Got Mail, Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights, Animal House, Brighton Beach Memoirs, A Chorus Line, Fame, GI Joe The Movie, Ghostbusters, Great Mouse Detective (Walt Disney Pictures), Hair, Meet Joe Black, The Object of My Affection, All that Jazz, Silent Movie, When Harry Met Sally, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and more

Reggie Workman

Born: June 26, 1937

Reggie Workman has long been one of the most technically gifted of all bassists, a brilliant player whose versatile style fits into both hard bop and very avant-garde settings. He played piano, tuba, and euphonium early on but settled on bass in the mid-'50s. After working regularly with Gigi Gryce (1958), Red Garland, and Roy Haynes, he was a member of the John Coltrane Quartet for much of 1961, participating in several important recordings and even appearing with Coltrane and Eric Dolphy on a half-hour West German television show that is currently available on video (The Coltrane Legacy). After Jimmy Garrison took his place with Coltrane, Workman became a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1962-1964) and was in the groups of Yusef Lateef (1964-65), Herbie Mann, and Thelonious Monk (1967)

Lem Winchester

Born: March 19, 1928

Lem Winchester had great potential as a vibraphonist but it was all cut short by a tragic accident. Influenced by Milt Jackson but developing a sound of his own, Winchester actually played tenor, baritone, and piano before choosing to stick exclusively to vibes. A police officer in Wilmington, Delaware, he made a big impression at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and was soon recording regularly with such major players as Oliver Nelson, Benny Golson, and Tommy Flanagan. Winchester resigned from the police force in 1960 to be a musician full-time, but then on January 13, 1961, he unsuccessfully demonstrated a trick with a revolver.