Dennis Rowland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dennis Rowland (born October 21, 1948 in Detroit ) is an American actor and jazz singer who initially worked with his swinging baritone voice in the Count Basie Orchestra before pursuing his solo career.

Live and act

Rowland heard the song Every Day from Joe Williams starring Count Basie a lot at the age of 6 , which left him deeply impressed. In the mid-1970s he worked in Detroit for several years as both an actor and a singer. From 1977 until Basie's death in 1984, Rowland was a singer in the Count Basie Orchestra, with whom he toured worldwide and also performed with Sarah Vaughan , Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett . Among other things, he can be heard on the Basie Band's Grammy- winning album On the Road . Then he worked as an actor on the stage. In 1987 he settled in Phoenix. Ray Anthony brought him for the album Swing Back to the 40s (1991).

In 1995 Rowland got a recording deal with Concord Records . With this label he first released Rhyme, Rhythm & Reason , then two more albums under his own name; the album Get Here (1996) supplements his classic repertoire of swing and blues titles as well as classics from the Great American Songbook with fun-oriented songs. His album Now Dig This (1997) is considered an impressive homage to Miles Davis .

Rowland has appeared on stage with Mickey Roker , Freddie Green , John Patitucci and Eddie Harris , among others . Further recordings are included on the soundtrack album Blonde for the Playboy Jazz label (2001), but also on Sample This (1997) by Joe Sample and We Do It Diff'rent (2002) by Frank Foster with the Loud Minority Band . As a soloist he has appeared in the USA, where he also performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra , in Germany (e.g. as headliner at the Dresden Jazz Days 2010), Russia, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

Rowland also continued to play theater, for example in productions by the Arizona Theater Company and in productions by the Phoenix Theater . He had one of the leading roles in the short film Real Gone Cat (2006) by Robert Sucato . In 2007 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Herberger Theater Center for his contributions to the performing arts . He is married to producer Sydney Blaine.

In 2012 Rowland suffered a severe stroke with a brain hemorrhage that severely affected his ability to sing and work. Thanks to successful therapy, it can appear again.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry (Radioswissjazz)
  2. ↑ Now Dig This (JazzTimes)
  3. ↑ a b Dresden Jazz Days
personal data
SURNAME Rowland, Dennis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Detroit