Jimmy Owens (jazz)
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Owens is a jazz
trumpeter, composer
, arranger
, lecturer
, and music education consultant. He has played with Lionel Hampton
, Charles Mingus
, Hank Crawford
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Count Basie
, Herbie Mann
, among many others. Since 1969, he has led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus ... .
In the 1960s, he was a member of the hybrid classical and rock band Ars Nova
. After Ars Nova ended, he was a member of the New York Jazz Sextet. Among the members of this group at various times were Sir Roland Hanna, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Benny Golson, Hubert Laws, and Tom McIntosh.
Between 1969 and 1972, Jimmy was a sideman on the David Frost Show whose musical director was Dr. Billy Taylor. Sidemen in this group included Frank Wess, Seldon Powell, Barry Galbraith, and Bob Cranshaw. Owens is an active member of the jazz education community. He also sits on the board of the Jazz Foundation of America which was founded in 1989. In 1990, the Jazz Musicians' Emergency Fund was founded to help individual musicians with medical, financial, and housing assistance after Jamil Nasser and Jimmy Owens presented this idea to the board. Both Jamil and Jimmy felt it was very important to help individual jazz musicians rather than organizations.
With Billy Cobham
With Joe Zawinul
With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
With Duke Ellington
& Teresa Brewer
With others
All-Star Recordings
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...
trumpeter, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
, and music education consultant. He has played with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel 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...
, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Hank Crawford
Hank Crawford
Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. was an American R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, 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...
, Herbie Mann
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
, among many others. Since 1969, he has led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus ... .
In the 1960s, he was a member of the hybrid classical and rock band Ars Nova
Ars Nova (1960s rock band)
Ars Nova was an American progressive rock band that performed and recorded from 1967 to 1969. The original core of the group comprised two former students from Mannes College in New York City - Wyatt Day , who wrote or co-wrote most of the band's songs, and Jon Pierson .They recorded two albums...
. After Ars Nova ended, he was a member of the New York Jazz Sextet. Among the members of this group at various times were Sir Roland Hanna, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Benny Golson, Hubert Laws, and Tom McIntosh.
Between 1969 and 1972, Jimmy was a sideman on the David Frost Show whose musical director was Dr. Billy Taylor. Sidemen in this group included Frank Wess, Seldon Powell, Barry Galbraith, and Bob Cranshaw. Owens is an active member of the jazz education community. He also sits on the board of the Jazz Foundation of America which was founded in 1989. In 1990, the Jazz Musicians' Emergency Fund was founded to help individual musicians with medical, financial, and housing assistance after Jamil Nasser and Jimmy Owens presented this idea to the board. Both Jamil and Jimmy felt it was very important to help individual jazz musicians rather than organizations.
As leader
- 1970: No Escaping It
- 1977: Young Man on the Move
- 1978: Headin' Home
- 1989: The Jazzmobile Allstars - Billy TaylorBilly TaylorBilly Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
, with Frank WessFrank WessFrank Wess is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone and flute.-Biography:...
, Victor GaskinVictor GaskinRoderick Victor Gaskin, born The Bronx, New York, November 23, 1934 is a jazz bassist.Gaskin moved to Los Angeles in 1962 and started playing with Paul Horn and Red Mitchell before going on to become one of many bass players for the Jazz Crusaders...
, Ted DunbarTed DunbarTed Dunbar was a jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He published four volumes on jazz. He trained as a pharmacist at Texas Southern University, but by the 1970s only did pharmacy work part-time. He was also a trained numerologist and had studied other aspects of mysticism...
, Bobby Thomas - 2007: Peaceful Walking
As sideman
With Archie SheppArchie 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...
- The Way AheadThe Way AheadThe Way Ahead is a British Second World War drama released in 1944. It stars David Niven and Stanley Holloway and follows a group of civilians who are conscripted into the British Army to fight in North Africa. In the U.S., an edited version was released as The Immortal Battalion.The film was...
(1968) - For LosersFor LosersFor Losers is an album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! in 1970. The album contains tracks recorded from September 1968 to August 1969 by Shepp with three different ensembles...
(1971) - KwanzaKwanza (album)Kwanza is an album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! in 1974. The album contains tracks recorded from September 1968 to August 1969 by Shepp with four different ensembles...
(1974)
With Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
- Spectrum (1973)
With Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
- The Rise and Fall of the Third StreamThe Rise and Fall of the Third StreamThe Rise and Fall of the Third Stream is an album by Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul, released in 1968. The title refers to the Third stream genre of music, melding classical and jazz.- Track listing :...
(1968) - ZawinulZawinul (album)-Track listing:# "Doctor Honoris Causa" – 13:48# "In a Silent Way" – 4:51# "His Last Journey" – 4:36# "Double Image" – 10:32# "Arrival in New York" – 2:01*Recorded Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.Y-Personnel:...
(1970)
With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
- Opening Night (1968)
With Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
& Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
- It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That SwingIt Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (Duke Ellington & Teresa Brewer album)It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing is a studio album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington and singer Teresa Brewer originally released on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label in 1973...
(1973)
With others
- Gary BartzGary BartzGary Bartz is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and The Juilliard School...
: Libra/Another Earth (Milestone RecordsFantasy RecordsFantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
, 1967/68) - Jimmy Owens/Kenny Barron: You Had Better Listen
- Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
: Blues - The Common Ground (Verve Records, 1968) - Composers Workshop Ensemble with Howard JohnsonHoward JohnsonHoward Johnson may refer to:*Howard Johnson's, a chain of hotels and restaurants*Howard Deering Johnson , founder of Howard Johnson's restaurants* Howard David Johnson, , American painter...
, Warren SmithWarren Smith (jazz musician)Warren Smith is an American jazz percussionist.Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family; his father played saxophone and clarinet with Noble Sissle and Jimmy Noone, and his mother was a harpist and pianist. He studied clarinet under his father from age four...
, Julius WatkinsJulius WatkinsJulius Watkins was an American jazz musician, and one of the first jazz French horn players. He won the Down Beat critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for "miscellaneous instrument" with French horn named as the instrument....
, Al Gibbons, Johnny ColesJohnny ColesJohnny Coles was an American jazz trumpeter.Coles spent his early career playing with R&B groups, including those of Eddie Vinson , Bull Moose Jackson , and Earl Bostic...
, 1973 - Jaki ByardJaki ByardJaki Byard was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz...
: On the Spot (OJC, 1965–67) - Teddy EdwardsTeddy EdwardsTheodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...
: It's Alright (OJC, 1967) - Booker ErvinBooker ErvinBooker Telleferro Ervin II was an American tenor saxophone player. He was perhaps best known for his association with bassist Charles Mingus....
: Heavy!!!Heavy!!!Heavy!!! is an album by American jazz saxophonist Booker Ervin featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Prestige label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars and stated "The set matches Ervin with a remarkable rhythm section.....
(Prestige, 1968) - Bobby TimmonsBobby TimmonsRobert Henry "Bobby" Timmons was an African American jazz pianist and composer.He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is best known for his role as sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the composition of "Moanin'", "Dat Dere", and "This Here", each of which are typical of his...
: Got to Get It!Got to Get It!Got to Get It! is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1967 and released on the Milestone label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Jason Ankeny awarded the album 3 stars stating "Purists may blanch, but Bobby Timmons' Milestone label debut Got to Get It! is an otherwise...
(Milestone, 1967) - Gerald WilsonGerald WilsonGerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
: Monterey Moods (Mack Avenue Records, 2007) - Gerald WilsonGerald WilsonGerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
: In My TimeIn My TimeIn My Time, Yanni's ninth album, released on the Private Music label in 1993, . This album is a gentler collection of piano-focused pieces. It attained Platinum status and was the second Grammy nomination for Yanni...
(Mack Avenue Records, 2007) - Gerald WilsonGerald WilsonGerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
: New York New Sound (Mack Avenue Record, 2003) - Tom McIntoshTom McIntoshThomas S. McIntosh is an American jazz composer and trombonist.McIntosh was born in Baltimore, Maryland and studied at Peabody Conservatory. He played trombone in an Army band, and eventually graduated from Juilliard in 1958. He played in New York City from 1956, with Lee Morgan, Roland Kirk,...
: With Malice Towards None (IPO Recordings 2004)
All-Star Recordings
- One More: Music of Thad Jones Vol 1 (IPO Recordings 2005)
- One More: The Summary - Music of Thad Jones Vol 2 (IPO Recordings 2006)