Gene Ess

Last updated

Gene Ess is a Japanese-American jazz guitarist. He was a member of the Rashied Ali Quintet, working with Ravi Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Lonnie Plaxico, and Reggie Workman.

Contents

Career

Ess was born Gene Shimosato in Tokyo, Japan, and raised in Okinawa [1] on an American military base. In his early teens, he was a performing musician in Okinawa. He studied classical music at George Mason University, then attended Berklee College of Music, [1] where he became interested in jazz, particularly the music of John Coltrane. [2]

Ess moved to New York City and became a member of a band led by Rashied Ali. [3] He toured with Ali and recorded on his album No One in Particular . While in this group, he played with Ravi Coltrane, Eddie Henderson, Carlos Santana, Archie Shepp, and Reggie Workman

Ess's album Modes of Limited Transcendence (2009) received the 2010 SESAC Outstanding Jazz Performance Award. [2] The album includes compositions by Ess and pianist Tigran Hamasyan. In 2012, he released A Thousand Summers, which contains vocals by Nicki Parrott.

Following this, Ess released Fractal Attraction (2013), which continues his exploration of voice in a chamber group setting. The album was recorded with Thana Alexa on vocals, David Berkman on piano, Thomas Kneeland on drums, and Gene Jackson on drums. Ess has also worked with Al Foster, Slide Hampton, Dave Liebman, and Clark Terry. [4]

Discography [5]

As leader

As sideman

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Coltrane</span> American jazz saxophonist (1926–1967)

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archie Shepp</span> American jazz musician

Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashied Ali</span> American free jazz and avant-garde drummer

Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer who was best known for performing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.

Alan Shorter was a free jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, and the older brother of composer and saxophone player Wayne Shorter.

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

Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey.

<i>Live at the Village Vanguard Again!</i> 1966 live album by John Coltrane

Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a live jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May 1966 during a live performance at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York City, the album features Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final years. The lineup features Coltrane's quintet, with Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, and flute, Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums, supplemented by Emanuel Rahim on percussion. It was the quintet's only official recording released during Coltrane's lifetime.

<i>Ascension</i> (John Coltrane album) 1966 studio album by John Coltrane

Ascension is a jazz album by John Coltrane recorded in June 1965 and released in 1966. It is considered a watershed in Coltrane's work, with the albums recorded before it being more conventional in structure and the albums recorded after it being looser, free jazz inspired works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format. AllMusic called it "the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde".

Muhammad Ali is an American free jazz drummer.

Clifford Edward Thornton III was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, political activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s.

<i>The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings</i> 1997 live album by John Coltrane

The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings is a box set of recordings by jazz musician John Coltrane, issued posthumously in 1997 by Impulse! Records, catalogue IMPD4-232. It collects all existing recordings from performances by the John Coltrane Quintet at the Village Vanguard in early November, 1961. Five selections had been issued during Coltrane's lifetime on the albums Live! at the Village Vanguard and Impressions. Additional tracks had been issued posthumously on the albums The Other Village Vanguard Tapes, Trane's Modes and From the Original Master Tapes.

<i>Four for Trane</i> 1965 studio album by Archie Shepp

Four for Trane is a studio album by tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp released on Impulse! Records in 1965. Four of the five tracks were composed and originally recorded by John Coltrane and rearranged by Shepp and trombonist Roswell Rudd. The other featured players are trumpeter Alan Shorter, alto saxophonist John Tchicai, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Charles Moffett. Coltrane himself co-produced the album alongside Bob Thiele. The album was Shepp's first release for Impulse!

<i>On This Night</i> 1965 studio album by Archie Shepp

On This Night is an album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! Records in 1965. The album contains tracks recorded by Shepp, bassist David Izenzon and drummer J. C. Moses in March 1965 and with a larger band in August of that year that included vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Henry Grimes and percussionists Ed Blackwell, Joe Chambers and Rashied Ali.

<i>Archie Shepp – Bill Dixon Quartet</i> 1962 studio album by Archie Shepp

Archie Shepp – Bill Dixon Quartet is the debut album by saxophonist Archie Shepp and trumpeter Bill Dixon released on the Savoy label in 1962. The album features three performances by Shepp & Dixon with Don Moore and Paul Cohen and a version of Ornette Coleman's composition "Peace" with Reggie Workman and Howard McRae. The album was also rereleased in 1970 as Peace on the French BYG label, flipping the running order on side two, and on CD in 2010 as a "unauthorized European" edition on the Free Factory label, using the Savoy title but the BYG running order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggie Johnson (musician)</span> American musician (1940–2020)

Reginald Volney Johnson was an American jazz double-bassist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Garrett</span> American jazz musician

Donald Rafael Garrett was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played double-bass, clarinet, and flute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thana Alexa</span> American jazz vocalist and composer (born 1987)

Thana Alexa is an American jazz vocalist, composer, arranger and producer.

<i>Marion Brown Quartet</i> 1966 studio album by Marion Brown

Marion Brown Quartet is an album by American saxophonist Marion Brown, his debut as a leader. It was recorded in November 1965 in New York City, and was released in 1966 on the ESP-Disk label. The album features Brown on alto saxophone, Alan Shorter on trumpet, Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone, Reggie Johnson and Ronnie Boykins on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums.

<i>Live in New York</i> (Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd album) 2001 live album by Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd

Live in New York is a live album by saxophonist Archie Shepp and trombonist Roswell Rudd. It was recorded in September 2000 at the Jazz Standard in New York City and released by Verve Records in 2001 as part of its Soundscape Series. Shepp and Rudd are accompanied by trombonist Grachan Moncur III, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. They are joined on one track by poet Amiri Baraka.

<i>Divine Radiance</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Tisziji Muñoz

Divine Radiance is an album by guitarist Tisziji Muñoz. It was recorded on October 30, 2001, at Right Track Recording in New York City, and was released in 2003 by Anami Music. On the album, Muñoz is joined by saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Ravi Coltrane, keyboardist Paul Shaffer, bassists Cecil McBee and Don Pate, and drummer Rashied Ali. The recording is a response to the events of 9-11.

<i>No One in Particular</i> 2001 studio album by Rashied Ali Quintet

No One in Particular is an album by the Rashied Ali Quintet, led by drummer Ali, and featuring saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, guitarist Gene Ess, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist Matthew Garrison. It was recorded on June 25, 1992, at The Studio, located at 102 Greene Street, New York City, and was released in 2001 by Ali's Survival Records.

References

  1. 1 2 Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. San Francisco: Backbeat. p. 218. ISBN   978-1-61713-023-6.
  2. 1 2 "Gene Ess". www.jazzgenemusic.com. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Olson, Paul (11 July 2006). "Gene Ess: One Note Says It All". All About Jazz. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Branam, Jud (4 September 2013). "Blending Passionate and Pensive". All About Jazz. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Discography | Gene Ess Shimosato". 6 April 2017.
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.