Don Sebesky is an American
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trombonistThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
and arranger.
Biography
Sebesky trained in trombone at the
Manhattan School of MusicThe Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
; in his early career, he played with
Kai WindingKai Chresten Winding was a popular Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is well known for a successful collaboration with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson.-Biography:...
,
Claude ThornhillClaude Thornhill was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader...
,
Tommy DorseyThomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
,
Warren CovingtonWarren Covington was an American big band trombonist. He was active as a session musician, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career.-Biography:...
,
Maynard FergusonMaynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
and
Stan KentonStanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
. In 1960 he began devoting himself primarily to arranging and conducting; one of his best-known arrangements was for
Wes MontgomeryJohn Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
's 1965 album Bumpin. Other credits include
George BensonGeorge Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
's The Shape of Things to Come,
Paul DesmondPaul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
's From the Hot Afternoon and
Freddie HubbardFrederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
's First Light. His 1973 release, Giant Box, hit #16 on the U.S. Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
He won three
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s in the 1990s: Best Instrumental Arrangement for "
Waltz for Debby"Waltz for Debby" is a jazz standard composed by Bill Evans. A piano trio jazz waltz, it was first recorded on Evans's 1956 album New Jazz Conceptions and, perhaps more famously, on his 1961 live album Waltz for Debby. It has been recorded by many artists, both as an instrumental and as a vocal piece...
" (1998) and "Chelsea Bridge" (1999), and
Best Instrumental CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
for "Joyful Noise Suite" (1999). He also won the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding OrchestrationsThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
for
ParadeParade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical was first produced on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998. The production was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after only 39 previews and 84 regular...
(1999) and
Kiss Me, KateKiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
(2000). Sebesky has also written a book, The Contemporary Arranger (1975).
Discography
- Don Sebesky and the Jazz-Rock Syndrome (1968)
- Distant Galaxy (1968)
- Giant Box (1973)
- The Rape of El Morro (CTI Records
CTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970...
, 1975)
- Three Works for Jazz Soloists and Symphony Orchestra (1979)
- Sebesky Fantasy (1980)
- Moving Lines (1984)
- Full Cycle (1984)
- Symphonic Sondheim (1991)
- Our Love Is Here To Stay (Telarc, 1997) - John Pizzarelli
John Paul Pizzarelli, Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader. He has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, performing for a variety of labels that include Telarc Records, RCA Records and Chesky Records, among others...
w/ Don Sebesky combo
- I Remember Bill: The Tribute to Bill Evans (1998)
- Joyful Noise: A Tribute to Duke Ellington (1999)
- Kiroron I-Kiroro Melodies (2000)
External links
- Don Sebesky at the Internet Off Broadway Database
The Lortel Archives, or the Internet Off-Broadway Database is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway.The archives are named in honor of actress and theatrical producer Lucille Lortel.-See also:...