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Thomas Lee Flanagan (16 March, 1930, – † 16 November, 2001, New York City) was an American jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
 born in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Wayne County, Michigan. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwestern United States of the United States....
, particularly remembered as an accompanist of Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Jazz royalty" and the "First Lady of Song", is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century....
. He played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane
John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an United States jazz saxophonist and composer.Starting in bebop and hard bop, Coltrane later pioneered free jazz. He influenced generations of other musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history....
's Giant Steps
Giant Steps

Giant Steps is a 1959 album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released on Atlantic Records.Giant Steps was his second album to be recorded by the Atlantic Records label, and marked the first time that all of the pieces on a recording had been composed by him....
, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is an United States jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins' long, prolific career began at the age of 11, and he was playing with piano legend Thelonious Monk before reaching the age of 20....
' Saxophone Colossus
Saxophone Colossus

Saxophone Colossus is one of Sonny Rollins' most acclaimed albums. Recorded and released in 1956, it is widely considered the masterpiece of his mid-1950s series of recordings for Prestige....
, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery is an album by United States jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. It is considered by many fans and critics to be the pinnacle of Montgomery's recorded studio work....
, and Art Pepper
Art Pepper

Art Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an United States alto saxophonist....
's Straight Life.

Tommy Flanagan Trio (with bassist Wilbur Little
Wilbur Little

Wilbur Little was a jazz bassist known for Hard bop and Post-bop. He originally played piano, but switched to double bass after serving in the military....
 and drummer Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones

Elvin Ray Jones was one of the most influential Jazz drumming of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
) released their first album, Tommy Flanagan Trio Overseas, in 1957.






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Thomas Lee Flanagan (16 March, 1930, – † 16 November, 2001, New York City) was an American jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
 born in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Wayne County, Michigan. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwestern United States of the United States....
, particularly remembered as an accompanist of Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Jazz royalty" and the "First Lady of Song", is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century....
. He played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane
John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an United States jazz saxophonist and composer.Starting in bebop and hard bop, Coltrane later pioneered free jazz. He influenced generations of other musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history....
's Giant Steps
Giant Steps

Giant Steps is a 1959 album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released on Atlantic Records.Giant Steps was his second album to be recorded by the Atlantic Records label, and marked the first time that all of the pieces on a recording had been composed by him....
, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is an United States jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins' long, prolific career began at the age of 11, and he was playing with piano legend Thelonious Monk before reaching the age of 20....
' Saxophone Colossus
Saxophone Colossus

Saxophone Colossus is one of Sonny Rollins' most acclaimed albums. Recorded and released in 1956, it is widely considered the masterpiece of his mid-1950s series of recordings for Prestige....
, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery is an album by United States jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. It is considered by many fans and critics to be the pinnacle of Montgomery's recorded studio work....
, and Art Pepper
Art Pepper

Art Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an United States alto saxophonist....
's Straight Life.

Biography

The Tommy Flanagan Trio (with bassist Wilbur Little
Wilbur Little

Wilbur Little was a jazz bassist known for Hard bop and Post-bop. He originally played piano, but switched to double bass after serving in the military....
 and drummer Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones

Elvin Ray Jones was one of the most influential Jazz drumming of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
) released their first album, Tommy Flanagan Trio Overseas, in 1957. As an accompanist, Flanagan worked with Ella Fitzgerald from 1963–65 and 1968–78. But beginning in 1975, Flanagan began once again to perform and record as a leader. He continued to work with other players, however, forming a trio with Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow

Talmage Holt Farlow was an United States jazz guitarist.He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1921. Nearly as famous for his reluctance to perform publicly as for his outstanding abilities, Tal did not take up the instrument until he was already 21, but within a year was playing professionally and in 1948 was with Margie Hyams' ban...
 and Red Mitchell
Red Mitchell

Keith Moore Mitchell , better known as Red Mitchell, was an United States jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet. He was the brother of Whitey Mitchell....
, among other projects.

Flanagan's style was both modest and exceptionally musical. He embodied many of the most important qualities associated with jazz: swing, harmonic sophistication, melodic invention, bluesy feel and humour. Interestingly, he appeared on a number of highly innovative albums. (His awkward solo on the extremely fast and harmonically complex title-track of Giant Steps is a rare [if famous] instance on record of the usually unflappable pianist being caught off-guard.)

Tommy Flanagan is mentioned by Japanese Author Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami

is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described by the Virginia Quarterly Review as "easily accessible, yet profoundly complex"....
 in the short story, Chance Encounter, he describes his experiences at a Tommy Flanagan performance.

During his career, Flanagan was nominated for four Grammy Award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
s — two for Best Jazz Performance (Group) and two for Best Jazz Performance (Soloist). He died on November 16, 2001, of an arterial aneurysm
Aneurysm

An aneurysm is a localized, blood-filled dilation of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall.Aneurysms most commonly occur in artery at the base of the brain and in the aorta ....
.

Discography


As leader

  • Overseas (1957; Prestige Records
    Prestige Records

    Prestige Records was founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock . The record label name was initially New Jazz, but changed to Prestige Records the next year....
    )
  • The Tokyo Recital (1975; Pablo Records
    Pablo Records

    Pablo Records was a record label founded by Norman Granz in 1973 in music, some ten years after he had sold his jazz labels to MGM Records.Pablo initially featured recordings by acts that he managed: Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass....
    )
  • Trinity (1975; Inner City Records)
  • Eclypso (1977; Enja Records
    Enja Records

    Enja Records is a Germany jazz record label based in Munich, Germany. It was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971, initially devoted to the Jazz avant-garde....
    )
  • Plays the Music of Harold Arlen (1978; Inner City Records)
  • Ballads and Blues (1978; Enja Records)
  • Our Delights (1978; Galaxy Records
    Galaxy Records

    Galaxy Records was a subsidiary of Fantasy Records. It was established in 1951 in music and has been reactived several times. Its first incarnation was as a 1950s jazz record label....
    ) Duo with Hank Jones
    Hank Jones

    Henry "Hank" Jones is an United States jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Critics and musicians have described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable....
  • Super Session (1980; Enja Records)
  • The Magnificent (1981; Progressive Records)
  • Thelonica (1982; Enja Records)
  • Jazz Poet (1989; Timeless Records
    Timeless Records

    Timeless Records is a jazz record label from The Netherlands.Timeless was founded in Wageningen in 1975 by Wim Wigt. It has specialized in bebop, though it also did a subseries of important releases of Dixieland jazz and swing jazz recordings....
    )
  • Beyond the Bluebird (1990; Timeless Records)
  • Flanagan's Shenanigans (1993; Storyville Records
    Storyville Records

    Storyville Records is a Denmark based record label founded in 1950 in music by Karl Emil Knudsen, a jazz record collector, then working for the Copenhagen telephone company....
    )
  • Let's (1993; Enja Records)
  • Lady Be Good for Ella (1993; Groovin' High Records)
  • Sunset and the Mockingbird (1997; Blue Note Records
    Blue Note Records

    Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards....
    )
  • Sea Changes (1997; Evidence Records)


As sideman

  • Detroit-New York Junction by Thad Jones
    Thad Jones

    Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an United States jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader....
     (1956; Blue Note Records
    Blue Note Records

    Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards....
    )
  • Introducing Kenny Burrell by Kenny Burrell
    Kenny Burrell

    Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an United States jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians....
     (1956; Blue Note Records)
  • Collector's Items by Miles Davis
    Miles Davis

    Miles Dewey Davis III was an United States jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s: he played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jaz...
     (1956; Prestige Records
    Prestige Records

    Prestige Records was founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock . The record label name was initially New Jazz, but changed to Prestige Records the next year....
    )
  • The Magnificent Thad Jones by Thad Jones (1956; Blue Note Records)
  • Saxophone Colossus
    Saxophone Colossus

    Saxophone Colossus is one of Sonny Rollins' most acclaimed albums. Recorded and released in 1956, it is widely considered the masterpiece of his mid-1950s series of recordings for Prestige....
     by Sonny Rollins
    Sonny Rollins

    Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is an United States jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins' long, prolific career began at the age of 11, and he was playing with piano legend Thelonious Monk before reaching the age of 20....
     (1956; Prestige Records)
  • Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane
    Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane

    Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane is a 1958 album by jazz musicians Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane....
     by John Coltrane
    John Coltrane

    John William Coltrane was an United States jazz saxophonist and composer.Starting in bebop and hard bop, Coltrane later pioneered free jazz. He influenced generations of other musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history....
     (1958; Original Jazz Classic)
  • BLUES ette by Curtis Fuller
    Curtis Fuller

    Curtis DuBois Fuller is a United States of America hard bop trombone, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers....
     (1959; Savoy)
  • Motor City Scene by Thad Jones (1959; United Artists Records
    United Artists Records

    United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1958 initially to distribute Soundtrack from its movies, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres....
    )
  • The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
    The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

    The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery is an album by United States jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. It is considered by many fans and critics to be the pinnacle of Montgomery's recorded studio work....
     by Wes Montgomery
    Wes Montgomery

    John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an United States jazz guitarist. He is generally 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, and Pat Metheny....
     (1960; Riverside Records
    Riverside Records

    Riverside Records, a United States record label specializing in jazz, was the raison d'etre for Bill Grauer Productions, a company founded by Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews in 1953 in music in New York City....
    )
  • Swingin' With Pee Wee by Pee Wee Russell
    Pee Wee Russell

    Charles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet....
     (1960; Prestige Records)
  • Giant Steps
    Giant Steps

    Giant Steps is a 1959 album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released on Atlantic Records.Giant Steps was his second album to be recorded by the Atlantic Records label, and marked the first time that all of the pieces on a recording had been composed by him....
     by John Coltrane
    John Coltrane

    John William Coltrane was an United States jazz saxophonist and composer.Starting in bebop and hard bop, Coltrane later pioneered free jazz. He influenced generations of other musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history....
     (1960; Atlantic Records
    Atlantic Records

    Atlantic Records is an United States record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm & blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Long one of the most important American independent labels, Atlantic now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which consolidated Atlantic Records and the Elektra Entertainment Group into one...
    )
  • Night Hawk by Coleman Hawkins
    Coleman Hawkins

    Coleman Randolph Hawkins , nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was a prominent jazz Tenor saxophone.He is commonly regarded as the first important and influential jazz musician to use the instrument: Joachim E....
     (1960; Prestige Records)
  • Desafinado by Coleman Hawkins (1962; Impulse Records)
  • Opening Remarks
    Opening Remarks

    Opening Remarks is a jazz album by jazz guitarist Ted Dunbar, recorded in 1978 for Xanadu Records....
     by Ted Dunbar
    Ted Dunbar

    Ted 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....
     (1978; Xanadu Records
    Xanadu Records

    Xanadu Records was a jazz music record label specializing in bebop throughout the 1970s and 1980s founded by Don Schlitten, recording and issuing recordings by some legendary names in jazz music such as Dexter Gordon, Al Cohn, Sonny Criss, Shorty Rogers, Charles McPherson , Jimmy Raney, Art Pepper, Ted Dunbar, Bob Mover, Dolo Coker, Barry Har...
    )
  • Straight Life
    Straight Life (Art Pepper album)

    Straight Life is a 1979 jazz album by saxophonist Art Pepper playing with Tommy Flanagan, Red Mitchell, Billy Higgins and Kenneth Nash....
     by Art Pepper
    Art Pepper

    Art Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an United States alto saxophonist....
     (1979; Galaxy Records
    Galaxy Records

    Galaxy Records was a subsidiary of Fantasy Records. It was established in 1951 in music and has been reactived several times. Its first incarnation was as a 1950s jazz record label....
    )
  • Chromatic Palette by Tal Farlow
    Tal Farlow

    Talmage Holt Farlow was an United States jazz guitarist.He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1921. Nearly as famous for his reluctance to perform publicly as for his outstanding abilities, Tal did not take up the instrument until he was already 21, but within a year was playing professionally and in 1948 was with Margie Hyams' ban...
     (1981; Concord Records
    Concord Records

    Concord Records is a United States record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 in music as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his Lincoln Mercury dealers...
    )
  • A Little Pleasure duet with J.R. Monterose (1981; Reservoir)


External links

  • on Allmusic
  • at BH Hopper Management
  • at the Jazz Discography Project
  • at All About Jazz