jazzgiants.netJazz Giants - Legendary Giants Of Jazz

MUSICIANS PAGE TWO PAGE THREE CONTACT Select Page Hank Mobley – Saxophonist Mobley began playing tenor saxophone as a New Jersey teenager and gained experience in the bands of Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie and was a founding member of the original Jazz Messengers . Mobley helped inaugurate the hard bop movement: jazz that balanced sophistication and soulfulness, complexity and earthy swing, and whose loose structure allowed for extended improvisations. Mobley’s solo lines were full of intricate rhythmic patterns that were delivered with spot-on precision, and he was no slouch harmonically either. Hank Mobley played a sweet tenor. He could play – and often played – r&b-tinged jazz; indeed, along with trumpeter Lee Morgan he became one of the foremost practitioners of this paleo-fusion in the Fifties and Sixties. But he was not a hooting, booting, keening, screaming r&b artist. Instead, he built his solos with an easygoing inexorability. Kenny Dorham – Trumpeter Dorham possessed a rare, soft and vulnerable sound that is soothing and instantly identifiable. Eschewing the typical trumpeter’s showmanship and flashiness, Dorham instead relied on his economical melodic logic in constructing poetic, lyrical improvisations with meaningful beginnings, middles, and ends. At mid-tempos, Dorham distinctly articulated an exaggerated staccato swing feel, greatly contrasting his double-timed legato phrases. On ballads, Dorham would not stray far from the melody, his minimalist approach exposing the innate beauty of each melody he touched. His idiosyncratic use of grace notes, varied attacks on single notes, such as scooping underneath or bending above the pitch, and stuttering repetitions of notes were some of the personal nuances that decorated his deceptively complex improvisations. Art Tatum – Pianist Art Tatum was among the most extraordinary of all jazz musicians, a pianist with wondrous technique who could not only play ridiculously rapid lines with both hands, but was harmonically 30 years ahead of his time; all pianists have to deal to a certain extent with Tatum’s innovations in order to be taken seriously. Able to play stride, swing, and boogie-woogie with speed and complexity that could only previously be imagined, Tatum’s quick reflexes and boundless imagination kept his improvisations filled with fresh (and sometimes futuristic) ideas that put him way ahead of his contemporaries. Tatum was really known for the way that he explored harmonic complexities and unusual chord progressions. When improvising, Tatum would often insert totally new chord sequences (occasionally with a chord on each beat) into one or two measures. Sonny Stitt – Saxophonist Sonny Stitt made more records as a leader than any other jazz instrumentatlist. Although eclipsed in his era by the extraordinary attention focused on Charlie Parker, Stitt was highly admired by both fans and musicians. Equipped with magnificent technique and iron chops, and gifted with an innate ability swing, he could turn on the music seemingly at will. Stitt could rip through an up-tempo bebop stanza, then turn around and play a shivering, captivating ballad. Stitt was a virtuoso on the horn and relished competition on the bandstand. Stitt had the qualities essential to a tenor battler; he was implacable, indefatigable and inventive. Although his playing was at first heavily inspired by Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Stitt eventually developed his own style, one which influenced John Coltrane. Carl Fontana – Trombonist Carl Fontana was one of the most talented and innovative trombonists of his generation. He became known as a lyrical, technically brilliant and inventive soloist. His fluid style was quite different from the bebop staccato of his great contemporaries, such as J.J. Johnson and Frank Rosolino. Fontana was also greatly admired for his mastery of the Doodle Tonguing” technique, a technique he developed for playing rapid-fire passages with technical brilliance in double-time phrasing. This skill allowed Fontana to smoothly execute runs of notes” at speeds many had not previously considered possible to achieve on a slide trombone. I don’t think I ever heard Carl play a bad solo,” Scott Whitfield maintains,. He definitely did not have a big ego and he did not have a star trip going on. Wynton Kelly – Pianist Wynton Kelly, who was both an elegant piano soloist with a rhythmically infectious solo style in which he combined boppish lines with a great feeling for the blues as well as a particularly accomplished accompanist, gifted with perfect pitch and a highly individual block chording style. Kelly’s work was always highly melodic, especially in his ballad performances, while an irresistible sense of swing informed his mid and up-tempo performances. Kelly was one of the most prolific sideman pianists of his era, performing on scores of jazz albums, and led albums under his own name, as well as being a superb accompanist and a distinctive soloist. A fundamentally unobtrusive pianist who liked above all to swing, Wynton Kelly nevertheless became many people’s ideal pianist during the 60s. A solid mainstream player grounded in the blues, he could make anything he played bounce. Art Farmer – Trumpet / Flugelhorn A highly melodic soloist, with inventive turns of phase and a frequently elegiac approach to his music. Study of his work over several decades reveals an artist of considerable emotional depths which he plumbed more and more as the years passed. In a quiet, unassuming manner, which reflected his personality, Farmer proved hard to pigeonhole. Descriptions of Farmer’s playing style typically stress his lyricism and the warmth of his sound. His playing had a sweetly lyrical tone and a melodic approach to phrasing, neither of which minimized his capacity to produce rhythmically swinging phrases. Farmer avoided the bright, penetrating sound of orthodox trumpet playing and was influenced by the more reserved articulation of Miles Davis and Kenny Dorham, and that, although he could seem more restrained than Davis or Lee Morgan, Farmer was in his way a true original. Bobby Hutcherson – Vibraphonist Easily one of jazz’s greatest vibraphonists, Hutcherson helped modernize his instrument by redefining what could be done with it – sonically, technically, melodically, and emotionally. In the process, he became one of the defining voices in the so-called new thing” portion of Blue Note’s glorious ’60s roster. Hutcherson gradually moved into a more mainstream, modal post-bop style that, if not as adventurous as his early work, still maintained his reputation as one of the most advanced masters of his instrument. Hutcherson’s work remains entirely compelling. He brings something special every time he plays. In recent years, it’s especially noticeable on his recordings as a sideman. If he doesn’t play on a particular track, you miss him. When he does play, everyone sounds better. Michel Petrucciani – Jazz Pianist Petrucciani’s style is most frequently compared to Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett for his lyricism and Oscar Peterson for his virtuosity. His playing was often quite dramatic, as well as loose and playful in a rhythm section, and gave attention to a strong articulation of the melody. Petrucciani was one of the most passionate and extrovert of soloists and the aggressive hurdling of his up-tempo work established an exciting bond with his audience. His interest was primarily in simply playing; he spent little time reharmonizing or arranging. When I play, I play with my heart and my head and my spirit… I don’t play to people’s heads, but to their hearts.” Joe Henderson – Jazz Saxophonist Jazz saxophonist and composer Joe Henderson could best be described as a renaissance man. Creating a style unique from the dominant saxophonists of his early career -namely John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins – Henderson became the consummate leader and sideman. His name has become synonymous with power and grace on the tenor...