Gigi Gryce (born
George General Grice, Jr. November 28, 1925 in
PensacolaPensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2007, the estimated population was 54,283....
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
— March 14, 1983 in Pensacola, Florida) was an American saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and
big bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big bands evolved with the times and continue to today. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and...
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
. His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his generation, Gryce's work is little known; however, several of his compositions have been covered extensively ("Minority","Social Call"," Nica's Tempo") and are frequently heard in jazz venues featuring mainstream jazz musicians.
Gigi Gryce (born
George General Grice, Jr. November 28, 1925 in
PensacolaPensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2007, the estimated population was 54,283....
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
— March 14, 1983 in Pensacola, Florida) was an American saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and
big bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big bands evolved with the times and continue to today. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and...
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
. His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his generation, Gryce's work is little known; however, several of his compositions have been covered extensively ("Minority","Social Call"," Nica's Tempo") and are frequently heard in jazz venues featuring mainstream jazz musicians. Gryce's compositional bent includes harmonic choices similar to those of Benny Golson, Tadd Dameron and Horace Silver in the contemporaneous period. Gryce's playing, arranging, composing is consonant with the
hard bopHard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Hard bop incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing.David H...
classic period, generally considered to be 1953-1965.
Although primarily a jazz musician, Gryce studied classical composition with
Alan HovhanessAlan Hovhaness was an American composer of Armenian and Scottish ancestry.His music is accessible to the lay listener and often evokes a mood of mystery or contemplation...
and
Daniel PinkhamDaniel Rogers Pinkham, Jr. was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist. Pinkham was one of America's most active composers during his lifetime...
at the
Boston ConservatoryThe Boston Conservatory is an arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It has undergraduate and graduate programs in music, dance, theater, and music education. The Conservatory offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Master...
following World War II (he entered September 15, 1947 and obtained a Bachelor of Music degree on June 6, 1952). While there he may have composed a number of symphonic compositions and chamber works. Gryce won a Fulbright scholarship and continued his studies in Paris with
Nadia BoulangerNadia Boulanger was an influential French composer, conductor, and music professor. An outstanding music educator at the highest level, she taught many of the most important composers and conductors of the 20th century.-Ancestors:Nadia Boulanger was born to a highly musical family. Her...
and
Arthur HoneggerArthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les Six...
. He also studied composition with the Boston music teacher Madame Margaret Chaloff, the mother of the
baritone saxophonistThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the larger and lower pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax...
Serge ChaloffSerge Chaloff was an American jazz baritone saxophonist.The son of noted Boston piano teachers, Margaret and Julius Chaloff, he was one of the few major jazz performers on his instrument. Until Chaloff the only prominent baritone player in jazz was Harry Carney of the Duke Ellington Orchestra...
.
During the 1950s he achieved some renown for his innovative
bebopBebop or bop is a style of jazz characterized by fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s...
playing, his primary instrument being the alto saxophone. Among the musicians with whom Gryce performed were
Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer who, according to The Penguin Guide to Jazz, was "one of the giants of American music"...
,
Tadd DameronTadley Ewing Peake "Tadd" Dameron was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romanticist" of the bop movement while reviewer Scott Yanow writes that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".-Biography:Born in Cleveland, Ohio,...
,
Lionel HamptonLionel Leo Hampton , was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
,
Donald ByrdDonaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Early life and education:...
,
Clifford BrownClifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...
,
Art FarmerArthur Stewart Farmer , was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player...
,
Howard McGheeHoward McGhee was one of the very first bebop jazz trumpeters, together with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes...
,
Lee MorganLee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:Lee Morgan, a leading trumpeter and composer, recorded prolifically from 1956 until a day before his death in February 1972...
,
Max RoachMaxwell Lemuel 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 one of the most important drummers in history...
,
Oscar PettifordOscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.-Biography:...
,
Teddy CharlesTeddy Charles is an American jazz pianist, drummer and vibraphone musician. Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, he began his musical career studying at Juilliard School of Music as a percussionist...
, and
Benny GolsonBenny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
. In 1955, Gryce formed the Jazz Lab Quintet, which included trumpeter Donald Byrd.
In the mid-1950s he converted to Islam and adopted the name
Basheer Qusim. By the early 1960s he stopped using the name Gigi Gryce and, partly due to personal problems that took their toll on his financial and emotional state, withdrew from performing. During this last period of his life he taught at a series of public schools in
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
and
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, and the CES (Community Elementary School) 53 on 168th Street in Bronx,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the last school at which Qusim taught, was renamed the Basheer Qusim School in his honor.
As leader
- 1954 When Farmer Meets Gryce (Prestige) with Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart Farmer , was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player...
- 1955 Do It Yourself Jazz (Savoy) with Duke Jordan
Irving Sidney Jordan was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:An imaginative and gifted pianist, he was also a regular member of Charlie Parker's so-called "classic quintet" , featuring Miles Davis. For example he participated in the Parker Dial session that produced "Dewey Square", "Bongo Bop",...
, Oscar PettifordOscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.-Biography:...
, Kenny ClarkeKenny Clarke was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
- 1955 Nica's Tempo
Nica's Tempo is an album by Gigi Gryce recorded in 1955. The title track is a reference to Nica de Koenigswarter aka "The Bebop Baroness".-Track listing:#"Speculation" – 4:03...
(Savoy RecordsSavoy Records is the name of a US jazz record label. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.A separate label with the same name was once based in Manchester, UK...
)
- 1957 Jazz Labaratory Series 1+2 (Savoy Records)
- 1957 Jazz Lab (Columbia)
- 1957 Modern Jazz Perpesktive (Columbia)
- 1958 At Newport
At Newport is a live album by the Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory and the Cecil Taylor Quartet recorded for the Verve label at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1957. The original LP album featured one side of performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy and the...
(Verve) One side of LP
- 1960 Sayin´ Something (Prestige)
- 1960 The Hap´nin´s (Prestige)
- 1960 The Rat Race Blues (Prestige)
As sideman
With Betty CarterBetty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
- Out There
Out There is a critically acclaimed avante-garde bop album by Betty Carter, released in February 1958. Ron Wynn of Allmusic called the album "a dynamic set."...
(1958)
- I Can't Help It
I Can't Help It is a 1992 Betty Carter compilation album. It contains all the tracks from her albums Out There with Betty Carter and The Modern Sound of Betty Carter...
(1982)
With Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer who, according to The Penguin Guide to Jazz, was "one of the giants of American music"...
- Monk's Music
Monk's Music is a 1957 album by Thelonious Monk's jazz septet. It was recorded in New York on June 26, 1957. The first song "Abide With Me"—a hymn by W. H. Monk—is an austere rendition played only by the septet's horn section. The song "Ruby, My Dear" is performed only by Monk, Coleman Hawkins,...
(1957)
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1957 album by Thelonious Monk. A more extensive collection can be found in "The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings."...
(1957)
With Lee MorganLee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:Lee Morgan, a leading trumpeter and composer, recorded prolifically from 1956 until a day before his death in February 1972...
- Lee Morgan Vol. 3
Lee Morgan Vol. 3 is the third album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released on the Blue Note. It was recorded on March 24, 1957 and features performances by Morgan, Gigi Gryce, Benny Golson, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Charlie Persip...
(1957)
External links