James Peter Giuffre (Template:IPAc-en, Template:IPA-it; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.
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Born in Dallas, Texas, of Italian ancestry, Giuffre was a graduate of Dallas Technical High School and North Texas State Teachers College (University of North Texas College of Music). He first became known as an arranger for Woody Herman's big band, for which he wrote the celebrated "Four Brothers" (1947). He would continue to write creative, unusual arrangements throughout his career. He was a central figure in West Coast jazz and cool jazz.[1] He became a member of Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars in 1951 as a full-time All Star along with Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne. The Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach CA became the focal point of West Coast jazz in the 1952/1953 time period. It was during this time when he collaborated with Rogers on many of the successful charts written for the All Stars. The first recording released by the Lighthouse All Stars was a not so West Coast jazz chart named "Big Boy" which he and Rogers had put together.[2] It became an instant hit with the local LA community. He left the band in September 1953 and became a member of Shorty Rogers and His Giants before going solo. Giuffre played predominantly tenor and baritone saxophone in the beginning, but eventually focused on clarinet.
His first trio consisted of Giuffre, guitarist Jim Hall and double bassist Ralph Pena (later replaced by Jim Atlas). They had a minor hit in 1957 when Giuffre's "The Train and the River" was featured on the television special The Sound of Jazz. This trio explored what Giuffre dubbed "blues-based folk jazz". This same special matched Giuffre with fellow clarinetist Pee Wee Russell for a leisurely jam session simply titled "Blues".
When Atlas left the trio, Giuffre replaced him with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. This unusual instrumentation was partly inspired by Aaron Copland. The group can be seen performing "The Train and the River" in the film Jazz on a Summer's Day filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
In 1959, Giuffre led a trio featuring guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Buddy Clark on a concert in Rome, Italy, sharing the bill with Gerry Mulligan's band.
In 1961, Giuffre formed a new trio with piano player Paul Bley and Steve Swallow on double bass. This group received little attention while active, but were later cited by some critics, fans and musicians as among the most important groups in jazz history.[3] They explored free jazz not in the loud, aggressive mode of Albert Ayler or Archie Shepp, but with a hushed, quiet focus more resembling chamber music.[4] The trio's explorations of melody, harmony and rhythm are still as striking and radical as any in jazz. Thom Jurek has written that this trio's recordings are "one of the most essential documents regarding the other side of early-'60s jazz."[5]
Giuffre, Bley and Swallow eventually explored wholly improvised music, several years ahead of the free improvisation boom in Europe. Jurek writes that Free Fall, their final record, "was such radical music, no one, literally no one, was ready for it and the group disbanded shortly thereafter on a night when they made only 35 cents apiece for a set."[6]
In the early 1970s, Giuffre formed a new trio with bassist Kiyoshi Tokunaga and drummer Randy Kaye. Giuffre added instruments including bass flute and soprano saxophone to his arsenal. A later group included Pete Levin playing synthesizer and replaced Tokunaga with electric bassist Bob Nieske. This group recorded three albums for the Italian Soul Note label.[7]
During the 1970s, Giuffre was hired by New York University to head its jazz ensemble, and to teach private lessons in saxophone and music composition.
Into the 1990s, Giuffre continued teaching and performing. He recorded with Joe McPhee, and revived the trio with Bley and Swallow (though Swallow had switched to bass guitar, giving the group a different sound). Through the mid-1990s Giuffre taught at the New England Conservatory of Music. He suffered from Parkinson's Disease and in his last years he no longer performed. Giuffre died of pneumonia in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on April 24, 2008, two days short of his 87th birthday.
Discography[]
As leader[]
- 1955: Jimmy Giuffre (Capitol)
- 1955: Tangents in Jazz (Capitol)
- 1956: Tenors West (GNP), with Bob Cooper, Bob Enevoldsen, Harry Klee and the Marty Paich Octet
- 1956: The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet (Atlantic)
- 1956: The Jimmy Giuffre 3 (Atlantic)
- 1956: Historic Jazz Concert at Music Inn (Atlantic)
- 1957: The Train and the River (Atlantic)
- 1958: The Music Man (Atlantic)
- 1958: The Four Brothers Sound (Atlantic)
- 1958: Trav'lin' Light (Atlantic)
- 1958: Western Suite (Atlantic)
- 1959: 7 Pieces (Verve)
- 1959: The Easy Way (Verve)
- 1959: Ad Lib (Verve)
- 1959: JImmy Giuffre with Strings (“Piece for Clarinet and String Orchestra”/“Mobiles”) (Verve)
- 1960: The Jimmy Giuffre Quartet in Person (Verve)
- 1961: Fusion (Verve)
- 1961: Thesis (Verve), re-released with Fusion and three additional tracks as 1961 (ECM, 1992)
- 1961: Emphasis, Stuttgart 1961 (hatArt), 1993), with Steve Swallow, Paul Bley
- 1961: Flight, Bremen 1961 (hatArt), 1993) re-issued with Emphasis... as Emphasis & Flight (hatOLOGY, 2003)
- 1962: Free Fall (Columbia)
- 1965: Olympia 23 février 60 - 27 février 1965 (Trema, 2000)
- 1971: Night Dance (Choice)
- 1973: Music for People, Birds, Butterflies and Mosquitos (Choice)
- 1973: Mosquito Dance (DJM)
- 1974: Quiet Song (Improvising Artists), with Bill Connors and Paul Bley
- 1975: River Chant (Choice)
- 1978: IAI Festival (Improvising Artists), with Lee Konitz / Connors / Bley
- 1983: Dragonfly (Soul Note)
- 1985: Quasar (Soul Note)
- 1988: Eiffel (CELP), with André Jaume
- 1988: Momentum, Willisau 1988 (hatOLOGY, 1997), with André Jaume
- 1990: The Life of a Trio: Saturday (Owl), with Steve Swallow, Paul Bley
- 1990: The Life of a Trio: Sunday (Owl)
- 1991: Liquid Dancers (Soul Note)
- 1992: Talks & Plays (CELP, 2000), CD with interview and a 2nd CD with André Jaume
- 1992: Fly Away Little Bird (Owl), with Steve Swallow, Paul Bley
- 1993: River Station (CELP), with André Jaume and Joe McPhee
- 1996: Conversations with a Goose (Soul Note), with Steve Swallow, Paul Bley
- 1998: Three Windows & Two – A Portrait of Jimmy Giuffre (CELP)
As sideman, arranger and/or composer[]
- Buddy Bregman - Swinging Kicks (Verve, 1956)
- Bob Brookmeyer - Traditionalism Revisited (World Pacific, 1957)
- Ray Brown - Bass Hit! (Verve, 1956)
- Teddy Charles - The Teddy Charles Tentet (Atlantic, 1956)
- Teddy Charles / Shorty Rogers / Shelly Manne / Jimmy Giuffre - Collaboration West (Prestige, 1956)
- Anita O'Day - Pick Yourself Up (Verve, 1958)
- Anita O'Day - Cool Heat, Arrangements by Jimmy Giuffre (Verve, 1959)
- Buddy DeFranco - Odalisque (Verve, 1953), reissued as The Progressive Mr. DeFranco (Norgran)
- Buddy DeFranco - Autumn Leaves (Verve, 1954), reissued as Buddy DeFranco and His Clarinet (Norgran)
- Herb Ellis - Ellis in Wonderland (Verve, 1956)
- Herb Ellis - Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre (Verve, 1959)
- Lee Konitz - Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre (Verve, 1959)
- Lee Konitz - You and Lee, Arrangements by Jimmy Giuffre (Verve, 1959), Giuffre does not play
- Shelly Manne & His Men - The West Coast Sound (Contemporary, 1953), Giuffre plays baritone saxophone
- Shelly Manne - The Three & the Two (Contemporary, 1954)
- Modern Jazz Quartet - The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn (Atlantic, 1956)
- Lennie Niehaus – Lennie Niehaus, Vol. 3 - The Octet, #2 (Contemporary, 1955), with Niehaus Giuffre plays baritone saxophone
- Lennie Niehaus – Lennie Niehaus, Vol. 5 - The Sextet (Contemporary, 1955)
- Shorty Rogers - Cool & Crazy (RCA, 1953)
- Shorty Rogers - Shorty Rogers & His Giants (RCA, 1954)
- Shorty Rogers - The Big Shorty Rogers Express (RCA, 1953–56)
- Shorty Rogers - The Swinging Mr Rogers (Atlantic, 1955)
- Shorty Rogers - Martians Come Back (Atlantic, 1955)
- Shorty Rogers - Way Up There (Atlantic, 1955)
- Shorty Rogers - The Swinging Nutracker (RCA, 1960)
- Bill Russo / Shorty Rogers / Shelly Manne / Jimmy Giuffre - Jazz Composers Workshop (Savoy, 1952)
- Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, Vol. 3 (Contemporary, 1952), in this band Giuffre plays tenor saxophone
- Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars - Sunday Jazz à la Lighthouse, Vol. 1 & 2 (Contemporary, 1953)
- Chet Baker and the Lighthouse All-Stars - Witch Doctor (Contemporary, 1953)
- Sonny Stitt - Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements (Verve, 1959)
- Duane Tatro - Jazz for Moderns (Contemporary, 1954–55), Giuffre plays baritone saxophone
See also[]
- List of jazz arrangers
References[]
- ↑ Berendt, Joachim E (1976). The Jazz Book. Paladin. pp. 20.
- ↑ Template:Discogs master
- ↑ Lock, Graham (1994). Chasing the Vibration: Meetings with Creative Musicians. Exeter: Stride. pp. 133–134. ISBN 1-873012-81-0.
- ↑ Berendt, p123
- ↑ Free Fall review
- ↑ 1961 review
- ↑ Lock, p132
External links[]
- Jazz.com Biographical Entry
- The Quiet Class of Jimmy Giuffre
- Jimmy Giuffre: Cry Freedom by Rex Butters
- Daily Telegraph obituary
- New York Times obituary
- Jazz Police obituary
- Jazz Portraits from the WGBH Archives: Jimmy Giuffre a radio documentary from WGBH Radio Boston
Template:Jimmy Giuffre
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