Grady Tate

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Grady Bernard Tate (born January 14, 1932 in Durham , North Carolina , † October 8, 2017 in New York City ) was an American jazz singer and drummer.

Live and act

Tate has been singing since he was four and impressed at some concerts as a boy, but initially gave up singing with his voice broken . He turned to the drums , which he learned as a self-taught . During his military service from 1951 to 1955, he took up his singing career again, but also learned the basics of jazz drums. From 1955 to 1959 he studied English literature and psychology at North Carolina Central University . He gave English and speaking lessons in Washington, DC , where he also played with Wild Bill Davis , and from 1963 studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City . As a drummer he accompanied singers like Peggy Lee . Norman Granz and Creed Taylor liked to use Tate as a drummer in their productions. He took with Quincy Jones , Jimmy Smith , Lionel Hampton , Stan Getz , Pearl Bailey , Tony Bennett , Ella Fitzgerald , Aretha Franklin , Lena Horne , Della Reese , Sarah Vaughan , Michel Legrand , Lalo Schifrin , Duke Ellington , Count Basie , Wes Montgomery , Bill Evans , Oscar Peterson , Charles Aznavour and André Previn . Gary McFarland promoted Tate as a singer and recorded several albums with him since 1968.

Tate is one of the most recorded drummers along with Billy Higgins , Steve Gadd and Peter Erskine . The number of LPs or CDs on which he has contributed is likely to be almost 700. However, he was not known to a wider public because he mainly worked as a studio musician. He enjoys the highest esteem among his colleagues, for example Peter Erskine. For those familiar with drumming, he is immediately identifiable by his work on the snare drum .

In 1973 and 1979 the baritone was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocalist . Since 1989 he has taught at Howard University .

Tate died in Manhattan, New York, in October 2017 at the age of 85.

Albums under his own name (as a singer)

  • Windmills of My Mind 1968
  • Feeling Life 1969
  • After The Long Drive Home 1969
  • She Is My Lady 1972
  • Movin 'Day 1974
  • By Special Request 1974
  • Master Grady Tate 1977
  • TNT 1991
  • Feeling Free 1999 (Pow Wow Records)
  • All Love 2002
  • From the Heart: Songs Sung Live at the Blue Note 2006

Albums as sideman (selection)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nate Chinen: Grady Tate, prodigious jazz drummer and noted vocalist, dies on October 85 , 2017, accessed on October 12, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Tate, Grady
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tate, Grady Bernard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz singer and drummer
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Durham , North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 2017
Place of death Manhattan , New York City