KJZZ Interviews

Today in Jazz

Jon Faddis, Trumpet, 1953, Oakland, CA

Jon gained much early professional experience by working with rhythm-and-blues bands in and around SanFrancisco.  In 1971 He moved to New York where he joined Lionel Hampton's band.  That gig lasted only six months and he left Hampton to join the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band at the Village Vanguard. With Thad and Mel he toured Europe and Asia and recorded extensively.  He remained with this orchestra until the mid '70s, while also studying at the Manhattan School of Music, and working  with Gil Evans, Charlie Mingus, and Dizzy Gillespie.  Dizzy Gillespie was, without a doubt, Jon's most powerful influence and idol.  With Gillespie he performed, recorded, toured the world and began to receive critical acclaim for his playing.  He made only a few recordings as a leader, and began to concentrate on studio playing until 1984 when he formed his own quintet.  Faddis is best-known as a powerful high-note player.  His solo work is often compared to that of Gillespie, but by 1984 he began to develop a more individual style. Today Jon Faddis is active as a performer and teacher.

Charles McPherson, Saxophone, 1939, Joplin, Mo

When Charles was still in his teens he was performing with Barry Harris and Lonnie Hillyer in Detroit.  In 1959 he made the move to New York, and in 1960 joined Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop.  He performed intermittently with the Mingus band until around 1975 when he and Hillyer co-led a quintet that replaced Mingus at the Five Spot.  In 1968 McPherson was asked to perform in the documentary film "Mingus".  During the '70s and '80s he was busy as a freelance player, and  after settleing in San Diego, he  formed a group of his own.  He also performed at various jazz festivals and toured internationally.  In 1988 he went to work for the bop quintet ,Uptown Express, which also included his son, drummer Chuck McPherson, and the trumpeter Tom Harrell.   McPherson's early saxophone playing was influenced by Johnny Hodges and Charlie Parker, but after a short while as a professional musician, he developed his own style which is warm and emotional.   In 1983 McPherson won an Oscar for his recording, "Treadmill".

Billy Taylor, Pianist/Educator, 1921, Greenville, NC

Billy studied music at Virginia State College (BMus 1942), and after earning his degree he moved to New York to begin his career.  His first major gig was with Ben Webster, and during the 1940s he worked with several popular jazz musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie South, Stuff Smith, Cozy Cole, Machito, Slam Stewart, and Charlie Parker.  In 1951 Billy managed to get the job of  "house pianist" at Birdland, where he was able to work with most of the important musicians of the period.  From the early '50s he usually worked with groups of his own.   Among his sidemen have been such stars as Ed Thigpen, Earl May, Vic Gaskin, and Freddie Waits.  From 1969 to 1972 Billy directed an 11 piece band for the "David Frost Show", and later he was the founder  and director of the important (to the jazz world) radio program, "Jazz Alive".  In 1981 he began presenting interviews and reports, and performed on national CBS television,  making regular appearances on the popular Charles Kuralt's show "Sunday Morning".  Taylor's interest in jazz education was first manifested in four brief primers on jazz piano styles.  At the University of  Massachusetts he earned a DME in 1975, for his dissertation "The History and Development of Jazz Piano : A New Perspective  For Educators".  Through his involvement in jazz clinics and work-shops and Jazzmobile, which he helped establish in in the mid '60s, he has become an artiiculate and respected spokesman for the arts in general and jazz in particular.  Despite his commitment to education Billy  has continued to develop as a performer, displaying a light, fluid, and unique bop style of piano playing.   He has also found time to compose a number of works, including the wonderful "Suite for Jazz Piano and Orchestra" (1973).  Billy retired from performing during the latter part of 2005, but is still seen from time to time on television.

July 2008

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