Gordon Lee (pianist)

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Gordon Lee (* 1953 in New York City ) is an American jazz pianist , arranger , composer and music teacher.

Live and act

Lee studied at Syracuse University and Indiana University , where he received his bachelor's degree in composition in 1976. He then moved to Portland, Oregon, where he worked with jazz and fusion bands. a. with Jim Pepper and Rich Halley . In 1980 he moved to New York City and worked there as a jazz pianist, a. a. with Don Cherry , Bill Frisell , Gladys Knight and the Pips , the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, The Temptations , Bobby Hutcherson , Dewey Redman , Houston Person , Frank Foster and Javon Jackson . In 1985 Lee returned to Portland and worked at several colleges as a music teacher. From 1986 he played with the drummer Mel Brown, from 1989 in his sextet, for which he also composed and arranged. He played a number of albums under his own name; Gordon Bleu was named Best Jazz Recording by the Northwest Music Association in 1990.

In 1999 he received his Masters of Music in orchestral conducting from Portland State University . Outside of jazz, he has worked with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Amram, and the Oregon Symphony, conducted by Norman Leyden and Bill Conti; he also wrote several commissioned compositions for chamber music and larger ensembles. He has been teaching improvisation and history of jazz at Western Oregon University since 1999 and directs the WOU / Mel Brown Summer Jazz Camp. Since 2009 he has also directed the jazz ensembles at Reed College. After Tom Lord , he was involved in 18 recording sessions between 1981 and 2014.

Discographic notes

  • Land Whales In New York (1982), with Jim Pepper, Calvin Hill , Bob Moses
  • On the Shoulders of Giants (1994), with Warren Rand , Leroy Vinnegar , Dick Berk
  • Rough Jazz (1994), with John Gross , Dan Schulte, Alan Jones
  • Flying Dream: Gordon Lee and The Gleeful Big Band (2003):
  • One Two Three (2005), with Renato Caranto , Andre St. James, Carlton Jackson
  • This Path (2010), with Dave Captein, Kevin Deitz, Carlton Jackson, Ron Steen, Miguel Bernal
  • Tuesday Night: Gordon Lee with the Mel Brown Septet (2014)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ After his death in 1992 he organized several memorial concerts, including at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 21, 2015 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / academic.reed.edu
  3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 19, 2014)
personal data
SURNAME Lee, Gordon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and music educator
DATE OF BIRTH 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City