1961 in jazz
Encyclopedia
Events
- Bengali Indian sitar player and composer Ravi ShankarRavi ShankarRavi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
and western jazz musicians Gary PeacockGary PeacockGary Peacock is an American jazz double-bassist.-Biography:After military service in Germany, in the early sixties he worked on the west coast with Barney Kessel, Bud Shank, Paul Bley and Art Pepper, then moved to New York. He worked there with Bley, the Bill Evans trio , and Albert Ayler's trio...
and Bud ShankBud ShankClifford Everett "Bud" Shank, Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first...
collaborate on the album Improvisations. The album combines the use of sitar and jazz musicSitar in jazzThe history of the sitar in jazz, that is the fusion of the sounds of Indian Classical music with Western jazz, dates back from the late-1950s or early-1960s when musicians trained in Indian Classical music such as Ravi Shankar started collaborating with jazz musicians such as Tony Scott and Bud...
and is considered an early example of fusion experiments with jazz and Indian classical musicIndian classical musicThe origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
. In early 1961 John Coltrane begins listening to North Indian music and the music of Shankar becomes influential in his development as a musician. - John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
sells an estimated 30,000 copies of My Favorite ThingsMy Favorite Things (album)My Favorite Things is the seventh album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1961 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD-1361. It was the first album to feature Coltrane's playing on soprano saxophone, and yielded a commercial breakthrough in the form of a hit single that gained popularity in...
in its first year of release - June 25 - Bill EvansBill EvansWilliam John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
Trio records Sunday at the Village VanguardSunday at the Village VanguardSunday at the Village Vanguard is a 1961 album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. The album is routinely ranked as one of the best live jazz recordings of all time.-History:...
and Waltz for Debby during a two-week stay at The Village Vanguard in New York. The recording was made from five sets they played on June 25th and was the last time the trio would play before virtuoso bassist Scott LaFaroScott LaFaroRocco Scott LaFaro was an influential jazz bassist, perhaps best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio.-Biography:...
's death 10 days later. - November 1 - John Coltrane begins recording his first live record Live! at the Village VanguardLive! at the Village VanguardLive at the Village Vanguard is the tenth album by jazz musician John Coltrane and his first live album, released in 1962 on Impulse Records, catalogue A-10. It is the first album to feature the members of the classic quartet of himself with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones...
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Album releases
- Basie at BirdlandBasie at BirdlandBasie at Birdland is a 1961 live album by Count Basie and his orchestra, recorded at Birdland in New York City. - Track listing :# "Little Pony" – 2:22# "Basie" – 3:23# "Blues Backstage" – 4:58...
- Count Basie OrchestraCount Basie OrchestraThe Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
(RouletteRoulette RecordsRoulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...
) - A Jazz Hour with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Blues MarchA Jazz Hour with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Blues MarchA Jazz Hour with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Blues March is a 1961 LP release by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers for Movieplay records.It is a rare session for the small Movieplay imprint featuring Jazz Messengers staple "Along Came Betty" along with two Shorter tunes, among them a less...
- Art Blakey (Movieplay) - MosaicMosaic (Art Blakey album)Mosaic is a 1961 jazz album released by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers for Blue Note Records.This is the first release by one of the most critically acclaimed Jazz Messengers lineups: Wayne Shorter , Freddie Hubbard , Curtis Fuller , Cedar Walton , Jymie Merritt , and Art Blakey...
- Art Blakey (Blue Note) - PiscesPisces (Art Blakey album)Pisces is a jazz album released by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers for Blue Note Records.-Track listing:# "United" -# "Ping Pong" -# "Pisces" -# "Blue Ching" -# "Uptight" -...
- Art Blakey (Blue Note) - Time Further OutTime Further OutTime Further Out is a 1961 release by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. It features the "Classic Quartet": pianist Dave Brubeck, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello...
- The Dave Brubeck QuartetThe Dave Brubeck QuartetThe Dave Brubeck Quartet is an American jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
(ColumbiaColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
) - Free Jazz: A Collective ImprovisationFree Jazz: A Collective ImprovisationFree Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is the sixth album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960. Its title established the name of the then-nascent free jazz movement...
- Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
(AtlanticAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - Coltrane JazzColtrane Jazz (album)Coltrane Jazz is the sixth album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1961 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1354. It marks the first appearance of the early John Coltrane Quartet on record, featuring pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones....
- John Coltrane (Atlantic) - My Favorite Things - John Coltrane (Atlantic)
- Live in Stockholm 1961Live in Stockholm 1961Live in Stockholm 1961 is a 1961 album by jazz musician John Coltrane.-Track listing:Original CD release Live in Stockholm 1961 .# "My Favorite Things" — 20:48# "Blue Train" — 8:54# "Naima" — 4:00...
- John Coltrane (LeJazz) - American FreedomAmerican FreedomLouis Armstrong and Duke Ellington: The Great Summit/Complete Sessions is a 1961 jazz album by jazz giants Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. A limited edition double CD from 2000 not only contains the recordings from the two original LPs, but also a CD of alternate takes...
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
& Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(Blue Note) - Out of the CoolOut of the Cool-Reception:The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection" calling it "Evans' masterpiece under his own name and one of the best examples of jazz orchestration since the early Ellington bands".-Track listing:...
- Gil Evans OrchestraGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
(Impulse!Impulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
) - FocusFocus (jazz album)Focus is a jazz album recorded in 1961, featuring Stan Getz on tenor saxophone with a string orchestra. The album is a suite which was originally commissioned by Getz from composer and arranger Eddie Sauter...
- Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
(VerveVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - 1961 - Jimmy GiuffreJimmy GiuffreJames Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, of Italian ancestry,...
3 (ECM) - All The Sad Young MenAll the Sad Young MenAll the Sad Young Men is the third collection of short stories written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published by Scribners in February 1926.-Composition:Fitzgerald wrote the stories at a time of disillusionment...
- Anita O'DayAnita O'DayAnita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
(Verve) - The Futuristic Sounds of Sun RaThe Futuristic Sounds of Sun RaThe Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Arkestra, recorded October 10, 1961 for the Savoy label. The first record to be recorded by a pared-down Arkestra after leaving Chicago, the album is often considered one of the most accessible records in Ra's...
- Sun RaSun RaSun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
and his Arkestra (Savoy Records) - We are in the Future - Sun Ra and his Arkestra (Savoy Records)
- We Travel the Spaceways - Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
- Secrets of the SunSecrets of the SunSecrets of the Sun is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. The album is considered one of the more accessible recordings from his 'Solar' period...
- by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra (El Saturn Records) - Cosmic Tones for Mental TherapyCosmic Tones for Mental TherapyCosmic Tones for Mental Therapy is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra. Recorded in 1963 but not released until 1967 on Sun Ra's own Saturn label, the record has become one of the most discussed of Ra's New York recordings...
- Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra - Bad and Beautiful - Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra (El Saturn Records, Impulse!)
- Fate in a Pleasant MoodFate in a Pleasant MoodFate in a Pleasant Mood is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra recorded in Chicago, mid 1960 and originally released on his own Saturn label in 1965. The album was reissued by Impulse! in 1974, and by Evidence in 1993...
- Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra (El Saturn Records, Impulse!) - Percussion Bitter SweetPercussion Bitter SweetPercussion Bitter Sweet is an album by jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1961, released on Impulse! Records.-Track listing:All compositions by Max Roach, except where noted#"Garvey's Ghost" - 7:53#"Mama" - 4:50#"Tender Warriors" - 6:52...
- Max RoachMax RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
(Impulse!) - Forbidden Fruit - Nina SimoneNina SimoneEunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
(ColpixColpix RecordsColpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...
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Deaths
- Scott LaFaroScott LaFaroRocco Scott LaFaro was an influential jazz bassist, perhaps best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio.-Biography:...
, bassist - Nick LaRoccaNick LaRoccaDominic James "Nick" LaRocca , was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag"...
, New Orleans cornetist, trumpeter - Wilber Sweatman, clarinetist
- Booker LittleBooker LittleBooker Little, Jr was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.-Biography:Despite his premature death from kidney failure at the age of 23, Little made an important contribution to jazz. Stylistically, his sound is rooted in the playing of Clifford Brown, featuring crisp articulation, a burnished...
(2 April 1938 – 5 October 1961)
Births
- Franck AmsallemFranck AmsallemFranck Amsallem is a French jazz pianist, composer and also singer. He was born in 1961 in Oran, then in French Algeria, but grew up in Nice, France.He started learning the piano at age 7 and also took up the classical saxophone at the local conservatory...
, pianist - Cris BarberCris BarberCris Barber is an American jazz singer on the 37 Records label. Cris won the Orange County Music Award for Best Jazz in 2004, and received nominations in 2005, 2006 and 2008...
, vocalist - Ivan BožičevićIvan BozicevicIvan Božičević is a Croatian composer, pianist, organist and jazz musician.-Biography:Božičević was born in Belgrade. After initial piano studies, joins the composition class of A. Obradović at the Belgrade Faculty of Music. Graduates in 1984, earns a Master's degree in 1989...
, pianist - Rachelle FerrellRachelle FerrellRachelle Ferrell is an American singer and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop, gospel, and classical music scene, she is most noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer.-Biography:...
, vocalist - Paul HanmerPaul HanmerPaul Hanmer is a South African composer, pianist and one of its foremost jazz musicians.In 1987 Hanmer moved to Johannesburg where he formed Unofficial Language with drummer Ian Herman and bassist Pete Sklair...
, pianist - Everette HarpEverette HarpEverette Harp , is an African American blues, jazz and gospel saxophonist who has recorded on Blue Note and Capitol Records. Harp's 2006 album, In the Moment, debuted in the number one position of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart.-Biography:Everette Harp started playing piano at two, and began...
, saxophonist - David KikoskiDavid KikoskiDave Kikoski is an exceptional American jazz pianist and keyboardist.Kikoski learned piano from his father and played with him in bars as a teenager...
, pianist - Mornington LockettMornington LockettMornington Edward Lockett is an English jazz saxophonist.Lockett began playing clarinet at age 14 before switching to tenor sax. He studied at Dartington College of Arts, graduating in 1981, then undertook further study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1984-85...
, tenor saxophonist - Arturo O'FarrillArturo O'FarrillArturo O'Farrill is a pianist, the son of Latin jazz musician and bandleader Chico O'Farrill. He formerly worked with Carla Bley and eventually took over his father's band. Arturo went on to form the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, which played at Lincoln Center. Under his direction the group recorded...
, pianist
Awards
- Grammy Awards of 1961Grammy Awards of 1961The third Grammy Awards were held on April 13, 1961. They recognized musical accomplishments by the performers for the year 1960. Bob Newhart and Henry Mancini each won three awards.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
- Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small GroupGrammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or GroupThe Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album is an award that will start being presented in 2012.The Award was previously called Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group from 1959 to 2011. The award will formally be discontinued from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
- André PrevinAndré PrevinAndré George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
for West Side StoryWest Side Story (soundtrack)West Side Story is the soundtrack to the 1961 film West Side Story. Released in 1961, the soundtrack spent 54 weeks at #1 on Billboard's album charts, giving it the longest run at #1 of any album in history, although some lists instead credit Michael Jackson's Thriller, on the grounds that West...
- André Previn
- Best Jazz Performance Large GroupGrammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances...
- Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
for Blues and the Beat
- Henry Mancini
- Best Jazz Composition of More Than Five Minutes DurationGrammy Award for Best Original Jazz CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition was awarded from 1961 to 1967. In 1961 the award was called the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Composition of More Than Five Minutes Duration...
- Gil EvansGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
& Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
for Sketches of SpainSketches of SpainSketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City....
- Gil Evans
- Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small Group