Grant Calvin Weston

Last updated
Grant Calvin Weston
Born(1959-06-06)June 6, 1959
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres Jazz, funk, rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s)Drums

Grant Calvin Weston (also known as G. Calvin Weston and Calvin Weston) (born June 6, 1959) is a drummer best known for his association with Ornette Coleman's band Prime Time. [1]

Contents

Career

Weston was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began playing music as a youth. [1] At age 17, he joined Ornette Coleman's band Prime Time, and recorded three albums with them. [2] He then went on to perform and record with guitarist James Blood Ulmer as well as with John Lurie and The Lounge Lizards. [3] He has also released two dozen albums as leader or co-leader, and is currently a member of the Free Form Funky Freqs, a trio with guitarist Vernon Reid and bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Wail, a band with members of Stinking Lizaveta. [1] [3] [4]

Discography

As leader or co-leader

With Dying Ground (trio with Kato Hideki and Eyvind Kang
With Free Form Funky Frēqs (trio with Vernon Reid and Jamaaladeen Tacuma)
With Warm Trio (trio with Boguslaw Raatz and Grzegorz Korybalski

As sideman

With Ornette Coleman
With The Lounge Lizards
With John Lurie
With Phalanx
With Marc Ribot
With James Blood Ulmer
With others

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Bailey (guitarist)</span> English avant-garde guitarist

Derek Bailey was an English avant-garde guitarist and an important figure in the free improvisation movement. Bailey abandoned conventional performance techniques found in jazz, exploring atonality, noise, and whatever unusual sounds he could produce with the guitar. Much of his work was released on his own label Incus Records. In addition to solo work, Bailey collaborated frequently with other musicians and recorded with collectives such as Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaaladeen Tacuma</span> American free jazz bassist (born 1956)

Jamaaladeen Tacuma is an American jazz funk avant-garde bassist, composer and producer born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Coleman's Prime Time band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Ribot</span> American guitarist and composer (born 1954)

Marc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald Shannon Jackson</span> American jazz drummer (1940–2013)

Ronald Shannon Jackson was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and producer. Jackson and bassist Sirone are the only musicians to have performed and recorded with the three prime shapers of free jazz: pianist Cecil Taylor, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masada (band)</span>

Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Blood Ulmer</span> American jazz and blues guitarist and singer (born 1940)

James "Blood" Ulmer is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "raggedly soulful".

Olu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas.

Harmolodics is a musical philosophy and method of musical composition and improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970s and 1980s inspired a style of forward-thinking jazz-funk known as harmolodic funk. It is associated with avant-garde jazz and free jazz, although its implications extend beyond these limits. Coleman also used the name "Harmolodic" for both his first website and his record label.

<i>In All Languages</i> 1987 studio album by Ornette Coleman

In All Languages is a 1987 double album by Ornette Coleman. Coleman and the other members of his 1950s quartet, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, performed on one of the two records, while his electrified ensemble, Prime Time, performed on the other. Many of the songs on In All Languages had two renditions, one by each group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Cohen</span> American jazz bassist

Greg Cohen is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Paul Bourelly</span> American guitarist (born 1960)

Jean-Paul Etienne Bourelly is an American guitarist whose music crosses the boundaries of jazz fusion and rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denardo Coleman</span> American jazz drummer (born 1956)

Denardo Ornette Coleman is an American jazz drummer. He is the son of Ornette Coleman and Jayne Cortez.

<i>Of Human Feelings</i> 1979 Ornette Coleman album

Of Human Feelings is an album by American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Ornette Coleman. It was recorded on April 25, 1979, at CBS Studios in New York City with his band Prime Time, which featured guitarists Charlie Ellerbee and Bern Nix, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummers Calvin Weston and Coleman's son Denardo. It followed the saxophonist's failed attempt to record a direct-to-disc session earlier in March of the same year and was the first jazz album to be recorded digitally in the United States.

Discography for American jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman.

<i>Tales of Captain Black</i> 1979 studio album by James Blood Ulmer

Tales of Captain Black is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer, featuring Ornette Coleman, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Denardo Coleman, recorded in 1978 and originally released on the Artists House label. It was coproduced by Ornette. The album was remastered and rereleased on CD with a new mix by Joe Ferla approved and co-produced by Ulmer on the Japanese DIW label in 1996.

<i>Layin in the Cut</i> (James Carter album) 2000 studio album by James Carter

Layin' in the Cut is the seventh album by American saxophonist James Carter, released on the Atlantic label in 2000. Devoted to free funk in the style of Ornette Coleman's late 1970s and '80s bands, it was one of two Carter albums released on the same day. The other was Chasin' the Gypsy, a tribute to guitarist Django Reinhardt.

<i>The Young Philadelphians: Live in Tokyo</i> 2015 live album by Marc Ribot and The Young Philadelphians

The Young Philadelphians: Live in Tokyo is a live album by Marc Ribot's Young Philadelphians which was recorded in Japan in 2014 and released on the Enja Records Yellowbird label.

<i>Urban Mythology Volume One</i> 2008 studio album by Free Form Funky Frēqs

Urban Mythology Volume One is the debut album by American experimental power trio Free Form Funky Frēqs, featuring guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer G. Calvin Weston. It was recorded during the summer of 2007 at Fenix Studios in Staten Island, New York, and was released in 2008 by Thirsty Ear Recordings.

<i>Mirakle</i> 2000 studio album by Derek Bailey, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Calvin Weston

Mirakle is an album by guitarist Derek Bailey, electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer Calvin Weston. It was recorded on November 29, 1999, at Orange Music in West Orange, New Jersey, and was released in 2000 by Tzadik Records as part of their Key Series.

<i>Hymn of the 3rd Galaxy</i> 2022 studio album by Free Form Funky Frēqs

Hymn of the 3rd Galaxy is the third album by American experimental power trio Free Form Funky Frēqs, featuring guitarist Vernon Reid, electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer Grant Calvin Weston. It was recorded during 2020–2021 at the musicians' home studios, and was released in 2022 by Ropeadope Records.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Calvin Weston: Biography". All About Jazz. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  2. Amorosi, A.D. (November 1, 2021). "G. Calvin Weston Keeps Moving Forward". JazzTimes. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Amorosi, A.D. (November 1, 2021). "G. Calvin Weston Keeps Moving Forward Page 2". JazzTimes. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  4. Kroll, Yoni (July 16, 2021). "Grant Calvin Weston on drums, improvisation, innovation, and his new band Wail". WXPN. Retrieved September 9, 2023.