Results for "Philadelphia"

Joe Chambers

Born: June 25, 1942

Born and raised near Philadelphia to a musical family, Joe Chambers heard not only the rock and roll of Louis Jordan and Slim Gaillard, but the classical of Vivaldi, Wagner, Beethoven and Mahler. Drums came early. "I think an instrument picks you. I used to play on post and pans when I was little. I was setting them up like a kit at four years of age, so the instincts were there." More taken with Lester Young and Lionel Hampton than Little Richard, Chambers nonetheless soon joined a band playing all the R&B hits of the day. "We played 'house rock,' horn players walking the bar like Big Jay McNeely and Tiny Bradshaw

Dave Burrell

Born: September 10, 1940

Distinguished composer-pianist Dave Burrell is a performing artist of singular stature on the international contemporary music scene. His dynamic compositions, with blues and gospel roots recall the tradition of Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington. After majoring in music at the University of Hawaii, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1961. After graduating with degrees in composition/arranging and performance in 1965, he moved to New York City, where he quickly established himself as one of the most innovative and original pianists, collaborating with the emerging leaders in contemporary jazz. Burrell’s Jazz Opera Windward Passages, written in collaboration with Swedish-born poet/lyricist Monika Larsson, blends opera voices with world class jazz soloists, a 21-piece jazz opera orchestra, dancers and chorus

Ray Bryant

Born: December 24, 1931

When Ray Bryant rose to national prominence in the 1950s, he was noted for his ability to meet the sophisticated harmonic demands of modern jazz while retaining the muscle and swing of old forms and the spirit of the gospel music that surrounded him when he was a child. Any performance by Bryant is steeped in the blues, even when he's not playing a blues. Born in Philadelphia, Bryant (whose older brother Tommy was a bassist) gained experience playing early rhythm ’n’ blues and swing with guitarist Tiny Grimes in the late 1940s. As the house pianist at Philadelphia’s Blue Note, he had opportunities to play with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Miles Davis

Jimmy Bruno

Born: July 22, 1953

Jimmy Bruno, born July 22, 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a master jazz guitarist and jazz educator. One of the most critically acclaimed jazz guitarist performing today, Jimmy Bruno came to prominence as a jazz musician in the 1990’s, after a successful twenty-year career as a sought-after commercial guitarist and session musician. “Get on the bus-we leave tonight” Those were the words that began Jimmy Bruno’s professional career as a guitarist. Most of the other guitarists auditioning for Buddy Rich’s band that day in 1973 were getting drumsticks thrown at them, Buddy’s not-so-subtle way of showing disapproval

Tyrone Brown

Born: February 1, 1940

Bassist Tyrone Brown has recorded over 125 CDs to date including six with legendary drummer Max Roach, six with saxophonist Odean Pope, five with Grover Washington, Jr. (two went gold "Live At The Bijou" and "Reed Seed"), four with guitarist Pat Martino, three with Bobby Zankel, and one each with vocalist Rachelle Ferrell and pianist Dave Burrell. An alumnus of the famed Berklee School Of Music, Brown received a fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and won a grant from the Pennsylvania Council On The Arts for Artistic Excellence in Jazz Composition 2001. Tyrone Brown has also garnered the "Best Acoustic Bass" honors in the Jazz Philadelphia Magazine Readers Choice Poll 1993 and 1994

Clifford Brown

Born: October 30, 1930

He was the most brilliant trumpet player of his generation, an original and memorable composer, a dynamic stage presence and one of the authentic legends of modern jazz. Clifford Brown was born October 30, 1930 in Wilmington, Delaware. As a young high school student Brown began playing trumpet and within a very short time was active in college and other youth bands. By his late teens he had attracted the favorable attention of leading jazzmen, including fellow trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Fats Navarro. At the end of the 40s he was studying music at Maryland University and in 1952, following recovery from a serious road accident, he made his first records with Chris Powell and Tadd Dameron

Michael Brecker

Born: March 29, 1949

Michael Brecker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and exposed to jazz at an early age by his father, an amateur jazz pianist. Among the generation of jazz musicians that saw rock music not as the enemy but as a viable musical option, Brecker began studying clarinet, then moved to alto saxophone in school, eventually settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument. After only a year at Indiana University, Michael Brecker moved to New York City in 1970 where he carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic and exciting jazz soloist. He first made his mark at age 21 as a member of the jazz/rock band Dreams—a band that included his older brother Randy, trombonist Barry Rogers, drummer Billy Cobham, Jeff Kent and Doug Lubahn

Randy Brecker

Born: November 27, 1945

Jazz trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa.

Born in 1945 in Philadelphia to a musical family, Randy’s musical talent was nurtured from an early age. He attended Indiana University from 1963-66 studying with Bill Adam, David Baker and Jerry Coker and later moved to New York where he landed gigs with such prominent bands as Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson Big Band and the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.

Beryl Booker

Born: June 7, 1922

Raised in the mecca of African-American artistic expression in Philadelphia in the 1920's, Beryl Booker was a pianist prodigy who never learned to read music. After landing her first professional gig with Slam Stewart's trio in 1945, she recorded half-a-dozen excellent albums under her own moniker, many of which she performs lead vocalist duties in addition to pianist. As one of only a handful of female players at the time, Beryl was accustomed to having to prove herself in the jazz world of the forties and fifties. Sadly, jazz history has largely overlooked many illustrious contributions of female instrumentalist's. Beryl played with an elite list of world renown jazz figures including, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Don Byas, and Slam Stewart

John Blake

Born: July 3, 1947

John Blake, Jr. has been one of the world’s leading jazz violinists for over four decades. A four-time winner of the Down Beat Critics’ Poll Violinist Deserving Wider Recognition category he was also one of the top two jazz violinists in the 49th, 50th, and 51st Down Beat Readers’ Poll, Classically trained, Blake first gained recognition on early-'70s recordings he made with Archie Shepp and in the mid-70s became established with a global audience during three years recording and touring as a member of Grover Washington, Jr.’s popular “crossover” jazz band. He then spent five years working extensively as a member of various ensembles led by pianist McCoy