Results for "Trumpet"

Wadada Leo Smith

Born: December 18, 1941

ISHMAEL WADADA LEO SMITH trumpet-player, multi- instrumentalist, composer and improviser has been active in the creative contemporary world music for over thirty years. His theory of Jazz and World music was significant in his music development as an artist and educator. Born in Leland, Mississippi, Smith's early musical life began in the high school concert and marching bands. At the age of thirteen, he became immersed within the Delta Blues and Improvisation music traditions. He received his formal musical education with his father, the U.S. Military band program (1963), Sherwood School of Music (1967-69), and Wesleyan University (1975-76). As an Improvisor-Composer, Smith has studied a variety of music cultures (African, Japanese, Indonesian, European and American) and has developed a Jazz and world music theory, and a notation system to fully express this music which he calls "Ankhrasmation". He has taught at the University of New Haven 1975-'76, the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY

Louis Smith

Born: May 20, 1931

Louis Smith is a talented, but under recorded, straight-ahead bop trumpeter who led two dates in the '50s before retiring to teach at the University of Michigan and the nearby Ann Arbor Public School system. For most of his career, he remained a teacher, making a brief comeback in the late '70s before returning to education. It wasn't until the mid-'90s that he began a recording career in earnest, turning out a series of albums for the Steeplechase label. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Louis Smith began playing trumpet as a teenager. He graduated high school with a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where he studied music and became a member of the Tennessee State Collegians. Folllowing his college graduation, Smith did a little graduate work at Tennessee before transferring to the University of Michigan, where he studied with professor Clifford Lillya. At Michigan, he had opportunities to play with traveling musicians, including Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. In January 1954, Smith was drafted into the Army, spending a little over a year and a half in his tour of duty. Once he left the Army in late 1955, he began teaching at the Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Georgia. While teaching at Booker T. Washington, Smith continued playing bop and hard bop in clubs, and was able to jam with Cannaonball Adderley, Kenny Dorham, Donald Byrd, Lou Donaldson, Zoot Sims and Philly Joe Jones, among many others. In 1956, he made his recording debut as a sideman on Kenny Burrell's Swingin'. A year later, he had the opportunity to lead his own recording session for Tom Wilson's Boston-based label, Transition. He assembled a quintet featuring Cannonball Adderley (who performed under the pseudonym Buckshot La Funke), bassist Doug Watkins, drummer Art Taylor and pianists Duke Jordan and Tommy Flanagan, who alternated on the date. Transition went out of business before the label had the chance to release the record. Blue Note chief Alfred Lion purchased all the Transition masters and signed Smith to an exclusive contract, releasing the session as Here Comes Louis Smith. During 1958, the trumpeter played on two Blue Note sessions—Kenny Burrell's Blue Lights and Booker Little's Booker Little 4 and Max Roach—in addition to leading the date that became Smithville. That brief burst of activity turned out to be his only recording dates for 20 years. Smith moved back to the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, where he taught at the University of Michigan and public schools. Between 1978 and 1979, he cut a pair of albums — Just Friends and Prancis'—before returning to teaching. A decade later, Smith began his recording career in earnest. After playing on Mickey Turner's Sweet Lotus Lips in 1989, he signed with Steeplechase and recorded Ballads for Lulu in 1990. He didn't return to the studio for another four years, but he did record two albums — Silvering and Strike up the Band — in 1994. The Very Thought of You appeared in 1995. A year later, Smith recorded I Waited for You, which was followed by There Goes My Heart in 1997. - AMG. Louis Smith had a stroke in 2005. SEMJA has published bulletins every now and then about his recovery. Louis has been working to regain his ability to speak with the help of several types of therapies. One of the more successful is music therapy, which he has been involved with for almost a year. Lars Bjorn, SEMJA President, recently had a chance to visit with Louis at one of his sessions at the University of Michigan Residential Aphasia Program and came away amazed at the ability of music to bring back some of Louis' lost skills. Louis' progress is no doubt due to his hard work; his previous musical ability; the skills of his musical therapist, Lynn Chenoweth, who sees him in one-on-one and group sessions; and the constant support provided by his wife Lulu.

Jabbo Smith

Born: December 24, 1908

Hailed a one of the original trumpet kings, Cladys Smith was born in Pembroke, GA on December 24, 1908. He was sent to the Jenkins Orphanage by his mother Ida Smith when he was six year old. Jabbo began playing the cornet at age eight and began touring with the Jenkins Band at age ten. During his stay at the orphanage Jabbo constantly ran away and in 1925, at age 17 he left for good in order to play professionally with Harry Marsh in Philadelphia. During the 1920s and 1930s, Jabbo was seen as a rival to Louis Armstrong. Jabbo played in New York for a while with such bands as the Charlie Johnson Band, Sidney Bechet and the James P

Bobby Shew

Born: March 4, 1941

Born In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bobby Shew began playing the guitar at the age of eight and switched to the trumpet at ten. By the time he was thirteen he was playing at local dances with a number of bands and by fifteen had put together his own group to play at dances, occasional concerts and in jazz coffee houses. He spent most of his high school days playing as many as six nights a week in a dinner club, giving him an early start to his professional career.

He then spent three years as the jazz trumpet soloist in the famed NORAD multi-service band. Shortly after leaving he joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of Sam Donahue, which, among other things, gave him the chance to perform quite a bit with trumpet legend Charlie Shavers. After his stint with Tommy Dorsey, Bobby was asked to play with Woody Herman's band upon Bill Chase's recommendation. He then spent some time playing for Della Reese and Buddy Rich, who's big band had just been formed.

Jack Sheldon

Born: November 30, 1931

Along with Lester Young in the '30s, Dizzy Gillespie in the '40s, and Zoot Sims in the '50s, Jack Sheldon is one of the Original Lions of the West Coast Sound. Jack's a premier improviser, is one of only a handful of trumpet players throughout jazz history who has developed his own distinctive "signature sound". It's an inimitable sound that comes from his heart and soul, what Miles Davis called "a voice". As an integral part of the West Coast Scene of the 1950s, he played an important role in developing that era's bebop- inspired sound. His solid connection to that vibrant period in West coast Jazz surfaces with each impeccable solo. Sheldon's collaborative list is indeed long and impressive: Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Curtis Counce, Shelly Manne, Art Pepper, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Rosemary Clooney, Diane Schuur and many other greats. Nominated five times for the Playboy International Artist Of The Year Award, Jack Sheldon continues to dazzle audiences with his prodigious chops and unerring sense of swing

Woody Shaw

Born: December 24, 1944

Woody Shaw, Jr. was born in Laurinburg, N.C. onDecember 24th, 1944 to Rosalie Pegues Shaw andWoody Shaw, Sr. He grew up in Newark, New Jersey,and began playing trumpet at the age of 11. Shawattended Arts High School in Newark where he studiedtrumpet and music theory with Jerome Ziering. Newarkhas a rich Jazz history and many notable Jazz artists areoriginally from there, including Sarah Vaughan, WayneShorter, Eddie Gladden, Larry Young, and GrachanMoncur III. His first and perhaps greatest inspiration, interms of the trumpet, came from listening to LouisArmstrong and, not long after, Clifford Brown.

Charlie Shavers

Born: August 3, 1920

Charlie Shavers was one of the great trumpeters to emerge during the swing era, a virtuoso with an open-minded and extroverted style along with a strong sense of humor. He originally played piano and banjo before switching to trumpet, and he developed very quickly. In 1935, he was with Tiny Bradshaw's band and two years later he joined Lucky Millinder's big band. Soon afterward he became a key member of John Kirby's Sextet where he showed his versatility by mostly playing crisp solos while muted. Shavers was in demand for recording sessions and participated on notable dates with New Orleans jazz pioneers Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, and Sidney Bechet

Doc Severinsen

Born: July 7, 1927

Heeeeere’s Johnny!” That lead-in, followed by a big band trumpet blast, was the landmark of late night television for three decades. The ‘Johnny’ was Johnny Carson, the announcer was Ed McMahon and the bandleader was Doc Severinsen. Beginning in October 1962, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson ruled the night air for thirty years. On May 22, 1992, it came to an end… Within a week of the final telecast, Doc Severinsen and His Big Band were on the road, and to this day, audiences across America love and respect Doc and his big band, not just because he shared their living room with them for so many years, but because of Doc’s love of the Big Band repertoire

Charlie Sepulveda

Born: 1962

Recognized as a hot trumpeter of the Latin jazz scene in the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S., Charlie Sepulveda continues to create a buzz in the music industry. With seven productions of his own as leader, he has been able to perform his music in the best Jazz Festivals around the world including Europe, United States, Japan and Puerto Rico getting excellent reviews, and several Grammy nominations along the way. A student from the School of Arts in Caguas, Conservatory of Music and University of Puerto Rico, and City College in New York, this trumpeter at age 20, earned the first trumpet slot in the band of heralded pianist Eddie Palmieri, with whom he toured and recorded

Carl Saunders

Born: August 2, 1942

Jazz listeners living in the Los Angeles area and musicians worldwide have long known that Carl Saunders is one of the great trumpet players around today. Now with the release of four remarkable recordings (Out Of The Blue, Eclecticism, Bebop Big Band, and Can You Dig Being Dug), Saunders’ musical talents can be heard and enjoyed by a much wider audience.

Carl Saunders was born on Aug. 2, 1942 in Indianapolis, Indiana and his first five years were mostly spent on the road. His uncle was trumpeter- bandleader Bobby Sherwood was riding high with the popular Sherwood Orchestra, having hits with “Elks Parade” and “Sherwood’s Forest.” Saunders’ mother Gail (Bobby’s sister) sang for the Sherwood Orchestra and Stan Kenton, among others. When Carl was five, he and his mother settled in Los Angeles; living with Carl’s aunt Caroline and her husband, tenor-saxophonist Dave Pell. At the time, Saunders heard the records of the Dave Pell Octet and was influenced by the style and phrasing of trumpeter Don Fagerquist.