Joe McPhee

Last updated
Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee at the Empty Bottle in Chicago in 2004.jpg
At the Empty Bottle, Chicago, November 4, 2004
Background information
Born (1939-11-03) November 3, 1939 (age 84)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, critic, educator
Instrument(s)Saxophone, trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone
Labels hat Hut, CIMP
Website www.joemcphee.com
Joe McPhee, moers festival 2010 Joe McPhee 05N2690.jpg
Joe McPhee, mœrs festival 2010
Joe McPhee, Peter Brotzmann and Kent Kessler performing in Aarhus, Denmark 2009 Peter-brotzmann joe-mcphee Kent-Kessler.jpg
Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann and Kent Kessler performing in Aarhus, Denmark 2009

Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day.

Contents

Life and career

McPhee was born in Miami, Florida, on November 3, 1939. [1] He began playing trumpet when he was eight, before learning other instruments. He played in various high school and then military bands before starting his recording career. His first recording came in 1967, when he appeared on the Clifford Thornton album entitled Freedom and Unity. McPhee taught himself saxophone at the age of 32 after experiencing the music of John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Ornette Coleman. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, McPhee lectured on jazz music at Vassar College. [1]

In 1975, Werner Uehlinger started the Swiss label Hathut Records with the specific intent of showcasing McPhee's music. [2] In the 1980s, McPhee met Pauline Oliveros, began studying her musical theories, and worked with her Deep Listening Band. He has not yet signed with any major label in his native United States, and was possibly better known throughout Europe than his native country until the 1990s. His 1996 album As Serious As Your Life, which takes its title from the jazz book by Val Wilmer, is "arguably the finest of his solo recordings", according to the AllMusic review. [3]

Jazz musicians with whom McPhee has recorded or performed include Ken Vandermark, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Mats Gustafsson, Jeb Bishop, The Thing, Clifton Hyde, Jérôme Bourdellon, Raymond Boni, and Joe Giardullo. Since 1998, McPhee, Dominic Duval, and Jay Rosen have performed and recorded as Trio X. [4] [5] In the 1990s Dominique Eade and McPhee had a jazz ensemble called Naima. [6]

McPhee has written reviews and commentary for Cadence . [1]

In 2005, McPhee was awarded the Resounding Vision Award by Nameless Sound.

Discography

Joe McPhee in music is (Speaking Portraits) (Vol. I) Joe McPhee in music is (Speaking Portraits) (Vol. I).jpg
Joe McPhee in music is (Speaking Portraits) (Vol. I)

With Trio X

With Survival Unit III

Compilations

As sideman

With Peter Brötzmann

With Roy Campbell, William Parker & Warren Smith

With the C. T. String Quartet

With Dominic Duval

With Joe Fonda

With Joe Giardullo

With Jimmy Giuffre and André Jaume

With Raphe Malik

With Mat Maneri

With the Nihilist Spasm Band

With Evan Parker

With Jamie Saft

With Clifford Thornton

With The Thing

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Brötzmann</span> German jazz musician (1941–2023)

Peter Brötzmann was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his many collaborators were key figures in free jazz, including Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor, as well as experimental musicians such as Keiji Haino and Charles Hayward. His 1968 Machine Gun became "one of the landmark albums of 20th-century free jazz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Parker (musician)</span> American jazz musician

William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist. Beginning in the 1980s, Parker played with Cecil Taylor for over a decade, and he has led the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since 1981. The Village Voice named him "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time" and DownBeat has called him "one of the most adventurous and prolific bandleaders in jazz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Parker</span> British saxophone player

Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Campbell Jr.</span> American trumpeter (1952–2014)

Roy Sinclair Campbell Jr. was an American trumpeter frequently linked to free jazz, although he also performed rhythm and blues and funk during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamid Drake</span> American jazz drummer and percussionist

Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashid Bakr (musician)</span> American free jazz drummer (born 1943)

Rashid Bakr is an American free jazz drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent Kessler</span> Musical artist

Kent Kessler is an American jazz double-bassist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivo Perelman</span> Brazilian free jazz saxophonist (born 1961)

Ivo Perelman is a Brazilian free jazz saxophonist born in São Paulo.

Dominic Duval was an American free jazz bassist.

Creative Improvised Music Projects, usually abbreviated CIMP or C.I.M.P., is an American jazz record company and label. It is associated with Cadence Magazine and Cadence Jazz Records. The label is noted for its minimal use of electronic processing and its spare microphoning technique. Bob Rusch founded CIMP in 1995, with his son Marc Rusch as the recording engineer and his daughter Kara Rusch producing cover art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Whitecage</span> American saxophonist (1937–2021)

Mark Whitecage was an American jazz reedist.

Jay Rosen is an American jazz drummer. He is a member of Trio X with Joe McPhee and Dominic Duval and performs in Cosmosomatics with Sonny Simmons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bisio</span> American jazz musician

Michael Bisio is an American jazz double bassist, composer, and bandleader. Since 2009 he has been the bassist for the Matthew Shipp Trio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okka Disk</span>

Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.

<i>McPhee/Parker/Lazro</i> 1996 live album by Joe McPhee, Evan Parker and Daunik Lazro

McPhee/Parker/Lazro is a live album by saxophonists Joe McPhee, Evan Parker and Daunik Lazro recorded in France in 1995 and first released on the Vand'Oeuvre label.

<i>In the Spirit</i> (Joe McPhee album) 1999 studio album by Joe McPhee Bluette

In the Spirit is an album of spirituals performed by multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee's Bluette, recorded in 1999 and released on the CIMP label.

<i>No Greater Love</i> (album) 2000 studio album by Joe McPhee, Joe Giardullo, Michael Bisio and Dominic Duval

No Greater Love is a live album of performed by multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee recorded in 1999 and first released on the CIMP label. The album was recorded at the same sessions that produced In the Spirit.

<i>Port of Saints</i> (album) 2006 live album by Joe McPhee, Raymond Boni, Michael Bisio and Dominic Duval

Port of Saints is a live album of performed by multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee recorded in 2000 in France and first released on the CjR label.

<i>Guts</i> (McPhee, Brötzmann, Kessler, and Zerang album) 2007 live album by Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann, Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang

Guts is an album by Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann, Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang recorded in 2005 and released on the Okka Disc label in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Zerang</span> American jazz percussionist and drummer (born 1958)

Michael Zerang is an American jazz percussionist and drummer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wynn, Ron (1994), Ron Wynn (ed.), All Music Guide to Jazz , M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov, San Francisco: Miller Freeman, p.  454, ISBN   0-87930-308-5
  2. ↑ "Established 1975". HatHutRecords. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  3. ↑ Brian Olewnick, review of Joe McPhee, As Serious as Your Life, AllMusic.
  4. ↑ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 984. ISBN   978-0-14-103401-0.
  5. ↑ Rusch, Robert D. (1998). The Watermelon Suite (CD insert). Trio X. Redwood, NY: CIMP. CIMP 183. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Dominique Eade Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.