Elvin Shepherd
Elvin J. Shepherd (born May 28, 1923 in Alexandria (Virginia) ; † June 2, 1995 in Buffalo ) was an American jazz musician ( trumpeter , later tenor saxophone ) and music teacher, who was primarily a mentor to younger jazz musicians in the Buffalo-Niagara space deserves.
Live and act
Shepherd grew up in Buffalo, where his parents moved when Elvin was three years old. He attended Hutchinson Central Technical High School . He started his musical career in the 1940s as a trumpeter; at the age of 17 he had his first appearances in the Colored Musicians Club . After serving in the Army at Camp Pickett, Virginia , he went to Philadelphia to join Nat Towles' touring band , which performed in the Omaha area. After that he played in the trumpet section in the Lucky Millinder band in New York until 1947 , u. a. with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie .
On his return to Buffalo he played in the sextet of Pete Suggs, which had an engagement at Club Moonglow . There were appearances with the singer Joe Williams , who worked as an emcee in the clubs for a year . After his right-hand accident at work, he switched to the saxophone, which he was self-taught , and went on tour with the Lenny Lewis Big Band. He led a rehearsal band in Buffalo and toured with numerous bands in the Buffalo area from the 1950s to the 1970s, including the Billy Eckstine Big Band , Erskine Hawkins , Buck Clayton and Bill Doggett . He also accompanied Dakota Staton , Della Reese , Ray Price , Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin . He worked briefly in New York with Hubert Laws . He was also the teacher of musicians such as Grover Washington, Jr. , Nasar Abadey , Ronnie Foster, James Clark and Herb Small Jr. In the 1980s, he led his own big band in Buffalo, which also included saxophonist Richard Tabnik .
He was posthumously inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 1997 for his services . In his hometown in the 2000s, a citizens' initiative successfully got involved in the preservation of his house.
Discographic notes
- Bill Doggett: Wow! (Verve, 1965)
Web links / sources
- Biographical information at WNMMP
- Information about jazz in Buffalo at Buffalo Spree magazine
- Information from WKBW
Individual evidence
- ↑ Obituary at Highbeam.com ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on the Abadey at All About Jazz ( memento of the original from November 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Portrait of Richard Tabnik at Jazz.com ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Buffalo Music Hall of Fame ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on the Shepherd House
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Shepherd, Elvin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shepherd, Elvin J. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz musician (trumpeter, later tenor saxophone) and music teacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 28, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Alexandria (Virginia) |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 2, 1995 |
| Place of death | Buffalo |