Results for "Philadelphia"

Lee Morgan

Born: July 10, 1938

Lee Morgan was a jazz prodigy, joining the Dizzy Gillespie big band at 18, remaining a member for two years. Beginning in 1956, he began recording as a leader, mainly for the Blue Note label, eventually he recorded twenty-five albums for the company. Morgan's principal influence as a player was Clifford Brown, having had direct contact with him before Brown's premature death.

He was also a featured sideman on several early Hank Mobley records, and John Coltrane's Blue Train. On the latter LP, he even played a bent-up horn like Gillespie's. Joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1958 further developed his talent as a soloist and writer. He toured with Blakey for a few years, and was featured on Moanin, which is probably Blakey's best known recording. When Benny Golson left the Jazz Messengers, Morgan persuaded Blakey to hire Wayne Shorter, a young tenor saxophonist, to fill the chair. This classic version of the Jazz Messengers, including Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt would record the classic The Freedom Rider album.

Hank Mobley

Born: July 7, 1930

As one of the founding members of the original Jazz Messengers, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was part of a brilliant innovation. Bebop's second generation of players had pulled the music into a tailspin of virtuosity. But there was a new inspirational sound taking hold, with roots in gospel and blues. By combining the best of bebop with the soulful new thing springing up, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins fashioned a sound with a percussive, street feel inspired by the hot steam grates and pavement they walked, the propulsive drive of the lives they were leading. Mobley was born in Eastman, Georgia, but was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Newark

Jymie Merritt

Born: May 3, 1926

Jymie Merritt was an American jazz double-bassist, electric-bass pioneer, band leader and composer. Merritt was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers group from 1957 until 1962. The same year he left Blakey's band, Merritt formed his own group, The Forerunners, which he led sporadically until his death in 2020. Merritt also worked as a sideman for blues and jazz musicians such as Bullmoose Jackson, B.B. King, Chet Baker, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lee Morgan. Jymie Merritt worked in jazz, R&B, and blues. In the early 1950s he toured with rock and roll musicians Bullmoose Jackson and Chris Powell moving on to work with bluesman BB King from 1955 to 1957. In 1957, Merritt moved to Manhattan, New York, to work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

Larry McKenna

Born: July 21, 1937

One of the world’s finest jazz saxophone players, Larry McKenna is known for his gorgeous tenor saxophone sound, the beauty of his balladry, and his fluid, bebop-inspired improvisations. After six decades in his profession, his international reputation as both a masterful jazz improviser and educator is firmly established. Over the years, Larry has performed and recorded with many jazz stars including Woody Herman, Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Barry Harris, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Harry Allen, Terell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Warren Vaché, Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker, Wynton Marsalis and Frank Sinatra.

Jimmy McGriff

Born: April 3, 1936

Organ master Jimmy McGriff may have studied formally at Juilliard and at Philadelphia's Combe College of Music, but there's nothing fancy about his music. It's basic to the bone, always swinging and steeped in blues and gospel. McGriff's brand of jazz is about feeling. "That's the most important thing," he says. Blues has been the backbone of most of the major jazz organists, including Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, but throughout his 42-year recording career, McGriff has stuck closer to the blues than any of them. "People are always classifying me as a jazz organist, but I'm more of a blues organ player," he insists

Christian McBride

Born: May 31, 1972

The finest musicians to spring from the world of jazz have clearly had an advantage when it comes to branching into other genres of music. Their mastery of composition, arranging and sight reading coupled with their flair for improvisation and spontaneous creation make them possibly the most seasoned and adaptable musicians in the art. Grammy Award winner Christian McBride, chameleonic virtuoso of the acoustic and electric bass, stands tall at the top of this clique. Beginning in 1989—the beginning of an amazing career in which he still has wider-reaching goals to attain - the Philadelphian has thus far been first-call-requested to accompany literally hundreds of fine artists, ranging in an impressive array from McCoy Tyner and Sting to Kathleen Battle and Diana Krall. However, it is his own recordings—albums that encompass a diverse canon of original compositions and imaginatively arranged covers—that reveal the totality of his musicianship. He currently leads one of the hottest bands in music—the propulsive Christian McBride Band (saxophonist Ron Blake, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully).

Cal Massey

Born: January 11, 1928

Calvin Massey was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. Massey studied trumpet under Freddie Webster, and following this played in the big bands of Jay McShann, Jimmy Heath, and Billie Holiday. In the late 1950s he led an ensemble with Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Tootie Heath; John Coltrane and Donald Byrd occasionally played with them. In the 1950s he gradually receded from active performance and concentrated on composition; his works were recorded by Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Philly Joe Jones, and Archie Shepp. Massey played with Shepp from 1969 until 1972

Jeff Lorber

Born: November 4, 1952

Over three decades after breaking ground as leader of the pioneering Jeff Lorber Fusion, the Philly-born and bred composer, producer and keyboard legend is still keeping the vibes fresh and the grooves funky. On Heard That, his Peak Records debut, Lorber keeps the soulful momentum going, collaborafting brilliantly on pop, jazz, R&B and blues-influenced tracks–and even harkening back a bit to his early 80s Fusion heyday–with one of urban jazz’s top hit makers and sonic architects, Rex Rideout. Highlighted by the first single, a swinging, bluesy-brass twist on Amy Winehouse’s Grammy winning “Rehab,” Heard That features a typically vibrant Lorber all-star guest list, including trumpet great Rick Braun, guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr., saxman Gary Meek, bassist Alex Al, trumpeter Ron King, guitarist Darrell Crooks and Peak labelmates, saxman Gerald Albright

Stan Levey

Born: April 5, 1925

Stan Levey, one of the strongest drummers of his generation, was born in Philadelphia in 1926. As a youngster, he showed promise as a boxer, and considered it briefly as a career, but music won out. He played in Philly with Dizzy Gillespie's group in 1942, at the tender age of 17. Soon after, he went to New York, where he and Dizzy worked on 52nd Street with Charlie Parker and Oscar Pettiford. He went on to play on over 1400 recordings and work with most of the big names in the music business at that time. For example: (this is the short list) Instrumentalists: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Errol Garner, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Zoot Simms, Stan Getz, John Lewis, Ray Brown, Sonny Stitt, Barney Bigard, Gerry Mulligan, Vince Guaraldi, Lee Konitz, Bud Shank, Charlie Ventura, Scott LaFaro, Victor Feldman, Art Pepper, Charlie Barnett Big Bands: Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Georgie Auld, Charlie Ventura, Boyd Reaburn, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Skitch Henderson "The Tonight Show Band" Singers: Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Gary Crosby, Pat Boone, Barbara Streisand, The Supremes, Vic Damone, Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, etc

John LaPorta

Born: April 1, 1920

At one point in time, John LaPorta looked like he was going to be one of the leading clarinetists in modern jazz. His cool tone and very advanced style (influenced by Lennie Tristano) seemed to be making him the Lee Konitz of the clarinet. LaPorta showed great promise as a reedman, particularly for his skills as a bebop and Third Stream clarinetist, but chose to sidestep into the educator's chair. One of his first professional gigs was with Bob Chester's swing band, beginning in 1942. In '44 he joined the Herman aggregation and remained for two years, making his own imprint on what became a classic big- band sound