George Mraz, Bass, 1944, Czechoslovakia
George began his music studies on the alto sax and violin before settling on the bass. He concentrated on the bass while a student at the Prague Conservatory in the early to mid '60s. His first gig was at a club in Munich, where he worked for around a year. At the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, George decided to emigrate to the U.S., becoming a citizen in 1973. After arriving in the U.S., he entered the Berklee School in Boston, studying composition and arranging. For a few years, in the early '70s, he performed and toured with Oscar Peterson before moving to New York and becoming a member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra, remaining until 1976. During this same period he also performed and recorded with Stan Getz, Walter Norris, Pepper Adams, Zoot Sims, and Roland Hanna. During the latter part of the 1980s Mraz performed and recorded compositions by Monk, with Carmen McRae in San Francisco. During his time with the important Jones/Lewis orchestra, George established himself as one of the finest and most saught-after bass players in jazz. Although he plays ably in free-jazz and jazz-rock styles, he is principally a bop musician. George Mraz is one of the most popular bass players in jazz today.
Walter Benton, Saxophone, 1930, Los Angeles, CA
Walter was already in high school when he decided on a life in music, and began playing the tenor saxophone. After performing in army bands during the mid '50s, he began a job in Los Angeles with Kenny Clarke, and participated in several jam session with Clifford Brown and Max Roach. He then began a lengthy association with the pianist Perez Prado, making an extensive tour of Asia in 1956. Later he recorded as a soloist with Victor Feldman's orchestra and with his own group in New York. Benton performed and recorded bop and free jazz with the adventurous groups led by Max Roach and Julian Priester and Abby Lincoln before returning to Los Angeles in 1961 where he worked with Gerald Wilson and John Anderson. Being an excellent reader and having a full tone makes Walter Benton one of the busiest musicians in jazz today.
Sonny Rollins, Saxophone, 1930, New York, NY
Sonny first learned piano and studied the alto sax from about the age of 11, and took up the tenor when he was around sixteen years old In high school he led a group with with such future stars as Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew, and Art Taylor. He practiced and rehearsed with Thelonious Monk for several months in 1948 and from 1949 to 1954 performed and recorded intermittently with a number of leading bop musicians. His most frequent associate during these years was with a young Miles Davis, with whom he performed in clubs and recorded. In one of these recording sessions, in 1954, he introduced three compositions of his own which later became jazz standards; Airegin, Doxy, and Oleo. In 1955, while overcoming his dependence on drugs, he joined the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. He remained with the group until 1957, then performed briefly in Davis's quintet. From that time forward Sonny has always led his own groups. In 1956 Rollins issued a series of landmark recordings; "Valse Hot" introduced the practice, now common, of playing bop in 3/4 meter: "St Thomas" initiated his explorations of calypso pattern; and "Blue 7" was hailed by Gunther Schuller as demonstrating a new manner of "thematic improvisation", in which the soloist develops motifs extracted from his theme. "Way Out West" (1957) Rollins's first album using three saxophones, bass, and drums, offered a solution to his longstanding difficulties with incompatible pianists, and exemplified his witty ability to improvise on hackneyed material (Wagon Wheels, I'm An Old Cowhand). During the years 1956-1958 Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz. Nevertheless, he was discontented; he could not find compatible sidemen, saw shortcomings in his own playing, and suffered from poor health. He withdrew from public life from August 1959 to November 1961. During this period of retirement his habit of practicing on the Williamsburg Bridge in Neqw York became legendary. When Sonny resumed his career he had improved his already prodigious skills, but his style was now considered conservative. In an effort to rejoin the vanguard of jazz fashion, he began, in mid 1962, collaborating with Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, and other musicians playing free jazz. During these years, as Rollins continued to struggle with changing personnel and instrumentation, he focused increasingly on unaccompanied playing, and by the end of the decade he had become famous for his extended "stream of consciousness" improvisations on traditional tunes and on his own calypso songs. In 1965 Sonny wrote the film score for Alfie (apart from the title song, which is by Burt Bacharach). He pursued spiritual interests in India for 5 months in 1968, and abandoned music altogether from September 1969 to November 1971. He returned to music in 1972 leading various groups of young, lesser-known musicians, performing in a commercial vein and making use of electronic instruments. He has continued to experiment, recording on soprano sax and the lyricon. Except for a six-month hiatus in 1983, after he collapsed from exhaustion, Rollins has remained active, touring the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Elvin Jones, Drums, Pontiac, MI
Elvin, brother of Hank and Thad, began his professional career with local groups in Pontiac and Detroit, then during army service (1946-49) performed in military bands. After returning to Michigan he resumed playing with various bands and in several that were formed by his brother Thad. Eventually he replaced Art Mardigan in Billy Mitchell's quintet; this group was the house band at the Bluebird club in Detroit and, as such, accompanied the nationally prominent musicians who appeared there. In 1956 Elvin moved to New York where he began to establish a reputation as a dynamic drummer in the tradition of Art Blakey. By this time he was working with famous musicians such as J.J. Johnson, Donald Byrd, Harry Edison, and Stan Getz. In 1960 he began an important five-year association with the great John Coltrane that was to become one of the most significant groups in jazz history. The innovative performances and recordings of this group established the standard f or excellence in the modal, open-form styleof this period. During his years with Coltrane, Elvin emerged as the premier jazz drummer of the 1960s. He actually changed the nature of jazz drumming. Jones left the group when Coltrane decided to add another drummer, Rasheid Ali. Elvin felt that this was not compatible with his musical ideas. He joined Duke Ellington for a short time for a tour of Europe. He later formed several different groups of his own with such sidemen as Joe Farrell, Frank Foster, George Coleman, and Wilbur Little. He toured the U.S., Asia, and conducted a major tour of South America. In 1979 he was the subject of a documentary film, Different Drummer; Elvin Jones. Jones's style is an extension of the bop approach established by Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, and modified by Art Blakey. In bop drumming a repeated rhythmic pattern is maintained only on the ride and hi-hat cymbals, the remaining instruments being used to mark the main structural divisions of the performance, to articulate the solo improvisation, and to interject counterrhythmic motifs against the prevailing regular pulse. Jones's technique resulted in dense textures, heightened poly-rhythmic activity, and increased intensity and volume. It contributed to a new style of "free improvisation" which underplayed or dispensed with regular pulse altogether. Some aspects of Elvin's style were adopted by many avant-garde drummers of the late '60s and '70s. Ultimately Jones's playing gave the drummer a broader role in ensemble playing, removing the emphasis from the function of timekeeping. Elvin Jones died in 2004.
