Henry Franklin
Encyclopedia
Henry "Skipper" Franklin (born Los Angeles
, California
, October 1, 1940) is an American
jazz
double-bassist.
's 1968 number one single, "Grazing in the Grass," as well as with Masekela's band at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. In addition, Franklin has played and recorded with Gene Harris
& the Three Sounds, Hampton Hawes
, Freddie Hubbard
, Bobbi Humphrey
, Willie Bobo
, Archie Shepp
, O.C. Smith, Count Basie
, Stevie Wonder
and Al Jarreau
. Franklin's recording—composed by Sanifu Al Hall, Jr.-- "Soft Spirit" was featured on the breakbeat
compilation Tribe Vibes as it had been sampled by the musical group A Tribe Called Quest
.
Encourage by his father, Sammy Franklin, a jazz trumpeter and bandleader, he studied with Al McKibbon and George Morrow
and listening to Paul Chambers
and Doug Watkins
.
While attending the Manual Arts High School he played with his first professional band - the Roy Ayers
Latin Jazz Quintet. Around that time, Franklin worked with Harold Land
and Hampton Hawes
. Years later he would tour Europe with Hawes and record five albums with him. In Los Angeles, Franklin also played with Ornette Coleman
, Don Cherry
, Billy Higgins
and Scott LaFaro
.
In 1968, after a year-long tour of the East Coast playing with Willie Bobo
and working gigs on his days off with Archie Shepp
, Lamont Johnson
, Beaver Harris
and Roswell Rudd
, Hugh Masekela heard Henry play and made him an offer. Three and a half years later the two would collaborate on Grazing in the Grass.
He continued touring over the next few years, working internationally with singer O.C. Smith, The Three Sounds
, Freddie Hubbard
and Count Basie
. Franklin collected another gold record with Stevie Wonder
on Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants.
Working with John Carter and Bobby Bradford
, he produced two albums: Self-Determination Music and Secrets.
With Dennis Gonzales, John Purcell and William Richardson he performed on five albums played extensively with Pharoah Sanders
, Joe Williams
, Sonny Rollins
, Bobby Hutcherson
, Sonny Fortune
and Milt Jackson
.
Franklin appears on more than 100 albums, with many of them produced under his leadership, and has also published a method book for all bass players entitled, Bassically Yours.
With Julian Priester
With The Three Sounds
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, October 1, 1940) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz 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...
double-bassist.
Biography
Franklin played on Hugh MasekelaHugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
's 1968 number one single, "Grazing in the Grass," as well as with Masekela's band at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. In addition, Franklin has played and recorded with Gene Harris
Gene Harris
Gene Harris was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz....
& the Three Sounds, Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz pianist, recognized as one of the finest and most influential of the 1950s.-Biography:...
, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick 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...
, Bobbi Humphrey
Bobbi Humphrey
Barbara Ann Humphrey is an American jazz flautist and singer who plays fusion, jazz-funk and soul-jazz styles. Bobbi Humphrey has performed for audiences around the world....
, Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo was the stage name of William Correa , an American jazz percussionist.-Biography:William Correa grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York City. He made his name in Latin Jazz, specifically Afro-Cuban jazz, in the 1960s and '70s, with the timbales becoming his favoured instrument...
, Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, O.C. Smith, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
. Franklin's recording—composed by Sanifu Al Hall, Jr.-- "Soft Spirit" was featured on the breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
compilation Tribe Vibes as it had been sampled by the musical group A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
.
Encourage by his father, Sammy Franklin, a jazz trumpeter and bandleader, he studied with Al McKibbon and George Morrow
George Morrow (bassist)
George Morrow was a jazz bassist.Although most closely associated with Max Roach and Clifford Brown, Morrow also appears on recordings by Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt....
and listening to Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers
Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
and Doug Watkins
Doug Watkins
Douglas Watkins was an American hard bop jazz double bassist from Detroit.-Biography:An original member of the Jazz Messengers, he later played in Horace Silver's quintet and freelanced with Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins,...
.
While attending the Manual Arts High School he played with his first professional band - the Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk .- Biography :Ayers...
Latin Jazz Quintet. Around that time, Franklin worked with Harold Land
Harold Land
Harold de Vance Land was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style. His tone was strong and emotional, yet displayed a certain fragility that made him easy to...
and Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz pianist, recognized as one of the finest and most influential of the 1950s.-Biography:...
. Years later he would tour Europe with Hawes and record five albums with him. In Los Angeles, Franklin also played with Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
, Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
and Scott LaFaro
Scott LaFaro
Rocco Scott LaFaro was an influential jazz bassist, perhaps best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio.-Biography:...
.
In 1968, after a year-long tour of the East Coast playing with Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo was the stage name of William Correa , an American jazz percussionist.-Biography:William Correa grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York City. He made his name in Latin Jazz, specifically Afro-Cuban jazz, in the 1960s and '70s, with the timbales becoming his favoured instrument...
and working gigs on his days off with Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards....
, Beaver Harris
Beaver Harris
William Godvin "Beaver" Harris was an American jazz drummer, who worked extensively with Archie Shepp.-Biography:...
and Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
, Hugh Masekela heard Henry play and made him an offer. Three and a half years later the two would collaborate on Grazing in the Grass.
He continued touring over the next few years, working internationally with singer O.C. Smith, The Three Sounds
The Three Sounds
The Three Sounds were an American jazz trio that formed in 1956 and disbanded in 1973. The trio played and recorded with Lester Young, Lou Donaldson, Nat Adderley, Johnny Griffin, Anita O'Day, Bucky Pizzarelli, Stanley Turrentine and Sonny Stitt among others.The band formed in Benton Harbor,...
, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick 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...
and Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
. Franklin collected another gold record with Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
on Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants.
Working with John Carter and Bobby Bradford
Bobby Bradford
Bobby Lee Bradford is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. He is noted for his work with Ornette Coleman...
, he produced two albums: Self-Determination Music and Secrets.
With Dennis Gonzales, John Purcell and William Richardson he performed on five albums played extensively with Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, Joe Williams
Joe Williams
Joe Williams may refer to:* Cyclone Joe Williams , Negro Leagues baseball pitcher, a.k.a. "Smokey Joe" Williams* Joe Williams , achieved prominence in the late 1950s* Big Joe Williams , delta blues singer...
, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
, Sonny Fortune
Sonny Fortune
Sonny Fortune is an American jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He also plays soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone and clarinet.-Biography:...
and Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
.
Franklin appears on more than 100 albums, with many of them produced under his leadership, and has also published a method book for all bass players entitled, Bassically Yours.
Discography
- The Skipper (Black Jazz RecordsBlack Jazz RecordsBlack Jazz Records was a jazz record label founded in Oakland, California during the early 1970s by jazz pianist Gene Russell.Russell founded the label as an alternative to traditional jazz invoking a more political and spiritual tone often with funk overtones. Black Jazz released various types...
) - The Skipper at Home (Black Jazz)
- Three Card Molly
- Bassic Instincts
- The Hunter
- Bass Encounters (Resurgent Music)
- Colemanology
- Ears Wide Open
- Three Worlds
- A Musical Tribute to Gene Harris featuring Three More Sounds
- Summer Serenade (Beezwax Records)
- Shalabongo
- We Came to Play (Jeru Records)
- Tribal Dance (Catalyst Records)
- Blue Lights (Ovation Records)
- Sakura (WJ3 Records)
- All God's Children (SP Records)
- Music to the 5th Power (SP Records)
- Bop (SP Records)
- If We Should Meet Again (SP Records)
- What a Beautiful Morning!
As Sideman
With Bobbi HumphreyBobbi Humphrey
Barbara Ann Humphrey is an American jazz flautist and singer who plays fusion, jazz-funk and soul-jazz styles. Bobbi Humphrey has performed for audiences around the world....
- Bobbi Humphrey Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at MontreuxBobbi Humphrey Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at MontreuxBobbi Humphrey Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux is a live album by American jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973 and released on the Blue Note label.-Track listing:# "Virtue" - 9:06...
(Blue Note, 1973)
With Julian Priester
Julian Priester
Julian Priester is an American jazz trombonist and composer.He has played with many artists including Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.-Biography:...
- Love, LoveLove, LoveLove, Love is an album by American jazz trombonist and composer Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto recorded in 1973 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1973)
With The Three Sounds
The Three Sounds
The Three Sounds were an American jazz trio that formed in 1956 and disbanded in 1973. The trio played and recorded with Lester Young, Lou Donaldson, Nat Adderley, Johnny Griffin, Anita O'Day, Bucky Pizzarelli, Stanley Turrentine and Sonny Stitt among others.The band formed in Benton Harbor,...
- Soul SymphonySoul SymphonySoul Symphony is the final album by jazz group The Three Sounds featuring performances with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Monk Higgins recorded in 1969 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:...
(Blue Note, 1969)