Azar Lawrence

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Azar Lawrence at the INNtöne Jazzfestival 2019

Azar Lawrence (born November 3, 1952 in Los Angeles ) is an American musician (tenor and soprano saxophone) of creative jazz .

Act

Azar Lawrence appeared at the beginning of his musician career in Horace Tapscott's Pan Afrikan People Arkestra , to which he later remained connected. In 1970 he accompanied Clark Terry on his European tours. A high school friend, Reggie Golson, son of saxophonist Benny Golson introduced him to Elvin Jones and introduced him to the music of John Coltrane , which he would occupy himself with throughout his career. Lawrence then played for Elvin Jones in 1973. Lawrence became known to a wider audience through his membership in the McCoy Tyner quartet , of which he was a member from 1973 to 1977 and on several albums for theMilestone has performed such as Enlightenment, Atlantis and Sana Layuca . He also played briefly in Miles Davis ' band , on whose 1974 live album Dark Magus he can be heard. During this time he still worked on record sessions with Woody Shaw , Harry Whitaker and Beaver Harris .

Lawrence recorded three albums for Prestige between 1974 and 1976 under his own name , of which Bridge into the New Age is particularly praised for its density and originality, but then initially had no further opportunity for record releases under his own name. Lawrence then formed the band Chameleon , with whom he recorded an album of the same name for Elektra Records in 1979 . In the 1980s he worked mostly as an accompanist on pop productions such as Earth, Wind & Fire and Marvin Gaye , in whose Grammy- winning Here, My Dear, he was involved. He wrote songs with Chuck Jackson .

In 2007 his album Speak the World was released . In 2012 he worked with his own quintet, in which Eddie Henderson , Benito Gonzalez , Essiet Okon Essiet and Jeff Tain Watts play. In 2019 he toured Europe with his septet Azar Lawrence Experience .

Azar Lawrence "Tribute to McCoy Tyner", 2016

Discographic notes

  • McCoy Tyner: Enlightenment (Milestone, 1973)
  • Miles Davis: Dark Magus (Columbia-Legacy, 1974)
  • McCoy Tyner: Sama Layuca (Milestone, 1974)
  • Bridge into the New Age (Prestige, 1974)
  • Woody Shaw: The Moontrane (Muse, 1974)
  • Beaver Harris: 360 Degrees Music Experience — In: Sanity ( Black Saint , 1976)
  • Summer Solstice (Prestige, 1975)
  • Shadow Dancing (Riza, 1985)
  • Speak the Word (Zarman Prod., 2007)
  • Elementals (High Note, 2018)

Lexical entry

Web links

Commons : Azar Lawrence  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Lawrence, Azar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz saxophonist
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd November 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles