Frank Paparelli

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frank Paparelli (born December 25, 1917 in Providence , Rhode Island , † May 24, 1973 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American jazz pianist , composer and author.

Live and act

Frank Paparelli, son of Italian immigrants, performed as a soloist while still in college. After graduating from Brown University in Providence, he moved to New York to embark on a career as a musician after auditioning for Nadia Boulanger . He continued his studies at Columbia University , took private lessons with Hans Weisse and worked for the publisher Lou Levy , director of the music publishing house Leeds Music , who wanted to publish a textbook for boogie-woogie . While working on this book, Paparelli's first composition Eight to the Bar was written in 1941 . In the other work for Levys Verlag he worked with musicians such as Count Basie , Nat Cole , Mary Lou Williams , Pinetop Smith , Buddy Johnson , Jimmy Yancey , Sammy Price , Earl Hines , Irene Higginbotham and Art Tatum . He also accompanied The Andrews Sisters and toured with the Will Osborne Orchestra. In 1942 he published the book The Blues - And How to Play 'em , to which Leonard Feather wrote the foreword.

As a soloist he appeared in the New York Café Society in 1943 ; jam sessions with Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Pettiford followed . With Clyde Hart four compositions and a duo recording of the Flight of the Boogie Bee were created . In the 1940s he wrote other textbooks such as Boogie Woogie for Beginners or Styles of the Famous 88’s . In 1944 he worked with Art Tatum on transcriptions of his solos for the Five for One series .

Thelonious Monk - 'Round About Midnight

In 1943/44 the collaboration with Dizzy Gillespie deepened; the two wrote a total of eight compositions, including A Night in Tunisia and Blue 'N Boogie . The final sequence of the recording of 'Round Midnight Gillespies with Paparelli and by Thelonious Monk himself for Blue Note 1947 comes from the composition Manhattan Mural by Paparelli / Gillespie. The result was the book Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet Style (in two editions 1946 and 1949) and joint recordings ( Groovin 'High in February 1945 for the Musicraft label). He also wrote a musical style analysis of the bebop classics 52nd Street Theme , Be Bop, Dizzy Atmosphere, Groovin 'High, and Trumpet Jive . Another book by Paparellis, entitled Be Bop (1949), was not published.

In 1944 and 1945 he made demo recordings of his own compositions with bassist Bill Pemberton , guitarist Snags Napoleon Allan and vocalists Billy Joyce and Ann Robinson . From 1947 he worked as a freelance musician and composer for various publishers; it came to cooperation u. a. with Stan Kenton , Harry James , Rex Stewart , Louis Armstrong , Eddie Heywood , George Shearing , Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker , Bobby Byrne or Benny Carter . He published the Progressive Series with JJ Robbins, including the transcribed Dizzy Gillespie Series for Piano Solos and Dizzy Gillespie Series of Be Bop Trumpet solos with solos from bebop compositions such as Anthropology , One Bass Hit, Oop-Bop-Sh-Bam , Shawnuff, Things to Come or Two Bass Hit . From 1953 he lived in California; when the opportunities to work in the music business waned, he began working in the County of Los Angeles administration in 1967.

Publications (selection)

  • The Blues and how to Play 'em by Frank Paparelli. Piano method book . New York, Leeds Music 1942
  • Don Raye / Frank Paparelli: Piano Music - (That Place) Down the Road a Piece . D. Davis & Co. 1943.
  • Nat 'King' Cole - Piano Capers, Transcribed and Edited by Frank Paparelli. New York: Leeds Music Ltd. 1946
  • Frank Paparelli - 2 to the Bar - Dixieland Piano Method . New York City, Leeds Music Corporation 1946
  • Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie - 52nd Street Theme - Be-Bop (New Jazz), arranged by Frank Paparelli . London, Bosworth & Co 1948
  • Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Fuller, Jay Roberts - Oop Bop SH-Bam - Be-Bop (New Jazz), arranged by Frank Paparelli . London, Bosworth & Co 1948
  • Boogie Woogie for Beginners . Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation 1985 ISBN 0-634-09347-9

Discographic notes

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Paparelli is mentioned in the credits, but his co-authorship is controversial. According to Gillespie, he was only responsible for the transcription .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Savoy discography 1945
personal data
SURNAME Paparelli, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist, composer and author
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Providence , Rhode Island
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1973
Place of death Los Angeles , California