Elmer Gill (February 17, 1926, Indianapolis - May 28, 2004, Vancouver, BC) was an American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, and singer.
Indianapolis, often shortened to Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to 2017 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion County was 872,680. The "balance" population, which excludes semi-autonomous municipalities in Marion County, was 863,002. It is the 16th most populous city in the U.S. The Indianapolis metropolitan area is the 34th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with 2,028,614 residents. Its combined statistical area ranks 27th, with a population of 2,411,086. Indianapolis covers 368 square miles (950 km2), making it the 16th largest city by land area in the U.S.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
The vibraphone is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family. It consists of tuned metal bars, and is usually played by holding two or four soft mallets and striking the bars. People who play the vibraphone are called vibraphonists or vibraharpists.
Gill was stationed in France during World War II and studied there at the Dijon Conservatory. After the war he studied at the University of Washington and led his own group called the Question Marks in Seattle. [1] He toured North America with Lionel Hampton in 1952-1953 and continued playing with his own groups for decades. Among those he worked with were David Friesen, Frank Rosolino, Carl Fontana, and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. By the 1980s Gill was based in Vancouver, British Columbia, though he still regularly played in the Pacific Northwest of the United States; he also toured Europe and Japan several times. [2] In the late 1980s his touring trio included his son Donald on drums and Kohji Yohyama on bass.
The University of Washington is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.
David Friesen is an American jazz bassist born in Tacoma, Washington. He plays double bass and electric upright bass.
