Brian Torff | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 16, 1954 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, delta electric |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, educator |
| Instrument(s) | Double-bass, harmonica, vocals, keyboard, slide guitar |
| Website | briantorff |
Brian Q. Torff (born March 16, 1954) is an American jazz double-bassist, songwriter and composer.
Brian Q. Torff is a Professor of Music and the director of the music program at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. [1] He has taught at New York University and makes frequent appearances at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts leading the Fairfield University Jazz Ensemble along with guest jazz artists including Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Bernard Purdie, Milt Hinton, Dave Samuels and Paul Wertico.
Brian Q.Torff is a bassist, songwriter, composer and educator. His album, 'Run With Scissors,' features his music in a 'Delta Electric' style, combining vintage southern style instruments with drum machines. Torff has performed as a featured bass soloist leading his own trio and has appeared at Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and Birdland in New York City. Torff performed at Carnegie Hall for Fiddle Fest, where he appeared with Mark O'Connor, Dave Grusin, Regina Carter, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Pinchas Zukerman. He served as co-chair person for the music advisory board for the National Endowment for the Arts in 1992.
Brian Torff's professional career began in 1974 when bassist Milt Hinton offered him the opportunity of touring with Cleo Laine. During the late 70s, Torff recorded and performed with pianists Mary Lou Williams and Marian McPartland, and toured Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong with jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. He played in pianist Erroll Garner's last group and worked in the big bands of Oliver Nelson, and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.
In 1979, Brian Torff joined in a duo with pianist George Shearing. In the course of their three-and-a-half year collaboration, they toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Brazil, and South Africa and were featured on The Tonight Show , The Merv Griffin Show , and their own PBS special from the Cafe Carlyle in New York City. They received worldwide acclaim and were invited to perform at the White House in 1982 for President Ronald Reagan. Their third album won a Grammy Award for vocalist Mel Tormé.
Torff has composed works with George Shearing and Larry Coryell and orchestral scores that have been performed by the Boston Pops, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has appeared as conductor, composer, and clinician for numerous high school and college jazz festivals. He is the author of the book In Love With Voices: A Jazz Memoir (2008), which chronicles his early musical roots and portraits of musicians he has worked with, including Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams, Marian McPartland, Stephane Grappelli, and George Shearing.
With George Shearing
With Sonny Stitt
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. He has been called "the grandfather of jazz violinists" and continued playing concerts around the world well into his eighties.
Margaret Marian McPartland OBE, was an English–American jazz pianist, composer, and writer. She was the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio from 1978 to 2011.
Martin Taylor, MBE is a British jazz guitarist who has performed solo, in groups, guitar ensembles, and as an accompanist.
Sir George Albert Shearing was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 songs, including the jazz standards "Lullaby of Birdland" and "Conception", and had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.
Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the jazz festival which Jefferson also began. The label issued recordings by Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Stan Getz, Ray Brown, Rosemary Clooney, Chick Corea, Eliane Elias, and Kurt Elling. It is owned by Concord.
Gene Harris was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz.
Piano Jazz is a weekly one-hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It began on June 4, 1978, and was hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland (1918–2013) until 2011. It is the longest-running cultural program on NPR. The show generally features a single guest, and usually consists of about an equal mixture of discussion and playing, often duets with McPartland. Initially the guests were limited to jazz pianists, but the format was later expanded to include performers on other instruments as well as other genres. The show provides an inside look at the relationships of jazz musicians, since McPartland often had long friendships with many of her guests. Piano Jazz won a Peabody Award in 1983. The show is an exclusive production of South Carolina public radio on WLTR and is offered nationally by NPR.
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Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979. A revival began in 1986 with the opening of the second nightclub by the same name that is now located in Manhattan's Theater District, not far from the original nightclub's location. The current location is in the same building as the previous headquarters of The New York Observer.
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Andrew Simpkins was an American jazz bassist.
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Neil James Sinclair Swainson is a Canadian jazz bassist. Swainson started his career in Victoria, British Columbia, when he supported visiting American musicians such as Herb Ellis, Barney Kessell, and Sonny Stitt. In 1976 he moved to Vancouver after playing with the Paul Horn Quintet and leading a band for two years. He moved to Toronto in 1977.
Pat Moran is an American jazz pianist.
Larry Vuckovich is an American jazz pianist from Yugoslavia.
The Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame is part of a US-based non-profit organization that began operations in 1978 and continues to the present (2022) in San Diego County, California. David Larkin is current president.
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