Frank Gant

Last updated
Frank Gant
Born(1931-05-26)May 26, 1931
Detroit, Michigan
DiedJuly 19, 2021(2021-07-19) (aged 90)
Occupation(s)Jazz musician
Instrument(s)Drums

Frank Gant (born May 26, 1931- July 19, 2021) was an american jazz drummer.

Contents

Born in Detroit, Michigan, [1] Gant recorded with Donald Byrd, Sonny Stitt, and extensively with Yusef Lateef in the late 1950s and then Red Garland before becoming a member of Ahmad Jamal's trio (1966-1976).

His first gigs were with Billy Mitchell and Pepper Adams, and after working with Little John Wilson and his Merry Men at the Madison Ballroom, including four days backing Billie Holiday, he went on to join Alvin Jackson's house band at the Blue Bird. [2]

As the house drummer at Detroit's Club 12, with Jackson's band, he backed Thelonious Monk and Charlie Rouse in September 1959. [3]

In the 1970s, he accompanied Jamil Nasser and Harold Mabern as the rhythm section for workshops run by Cobi Narita. [4]

Discography

As sideman

With Sonny Stitt
With Yusef Lateef
With Red Garland
With Ahmad Jamal

With Al Haig

With others

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yusef Lateef</span> American jazz musician (1920–2013)

Yusef Abdul Lateef was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmad Jamal</span> American jazz pianist (1930–2023)

Ahmad Jamal was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Taylor</span> American drummer

Arthur S. Taylor Jr. was an American jazz drummer, who "helped define the sound of modern jazz drumming".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Watkins</span> American jazz double bassist

Douglas Watkins was an American jazz double bassist. He was best known for being an accompanist to various hard bop artists in the Detroit area, including Donald Byrd and Jackie McLean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Stitt</span> American jazz saxophonist

Sonny Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording more than 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern because of his tendency to rarely work with the same musicians for long despite his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Stitt was sometimes viewed as a Charlie Parker mimic, especially earlier in his career, but gradually came to develop his own sound and style, particularly when performing on tenor saxophone and even occasionally baritone saxophone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thad Jones</span> American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader

Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Harris</span> American jazz pianist and educator (1929–2021)

Barry Doyle Harris was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style.

Lex Humphries was an American jazz drummer. He worked with two musicians known for mixing world music with jazz: Sun Ra and Yusef Lateef. As a member of Sun Ra's "Arkestra" he appeared in the film Space Is the Place.

Sylvester Kyner Jr., known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Jones (musician)</span> American jazz double bassist, cellist, and composer

Samuel Jones was an American jazz double bassist, cellist, and composer.

Herman Wright was a jazz bassist. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1932, and, in 1960, moved to New York City, where he resided until his death in 1997.

Jamil Nasser and also credited on some of Ahmad Jamal's recordings as Jamil Sulieman, was an American jazz musician. He played double bass, electric bass, and tuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Wilson</span> American drummer

Rossiere "Shadow" Wilson was an American jazz drummer.

Bernard Atwell McKinney, later Kiane Zawadi is an American jazz trombonist and euphonium player, one of the few jazz soloists on the latter instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Brooks</span> American drummer

Roy Brooks was an American jazz drummer.

William E. Davis was an American jazz pianist.

Tate Houston was a Detroit-based American baritone and tenor saxophonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Bird Inn</span> Jazz night club in Detroit, Michigan, US

The Blue Bird Inn, at 5021 Tireman, was a jazz night club in Detroit presenting music every night except Monday. An African American owned venue, by the end of the 1940s it was the most important live outlet for bop in the city.

Ali Muhammad Jackson, also known as Ali Jackson, was a jazz bassist, composer, ethnomusicologist, actor, poet and artist.

Alvin "AJ" Jackson was a jazz bassist.

References

  1. "Frank Gant". discogs.com. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  2. Björn, Lars Olof (2001) Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60, p. 142. University of Michigan Press At Google Books. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  3. Kelley, Robin (2009) Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, p. 273. Simon and Schuster At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  4. Gourse, Leslie (1996) Madame Jazz: Contemporary Women Instrumentalists, p. 62. Oxford University Press At Google Books. Retrieved 20 July 2013.