James "Hen Gates" Forman

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James "Hen Gates" Forman Jr. (also James Foreman , * around 1920; † unknown) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues musician ( piano ).

Live and act

Forman in the south of Philadelphia and from the 1940s worked initially in the music scene in his hometown; u. a. he played with Luchi De Jesus, Jimmy Heath , Howard McGhee , and Charlie Parker . The first recordings were made in 1947 with saxophonist Al Steele , Percy Heath and Specs Wright . 1948/49 he was a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band ; he also played James Moody and His Bop Men, Jimmy Preston ("Hayride", 1948) and Dinah Washington ("Good Daddy Blues"; # 8 on the RB charts in 1949 ). The discographer Tom Lord lists his participation in 26 recording sessions between 1947 and 1953.

In later years Forman was again active in the local Philadelphian music scene; in the rhythm section with Jimmy Mobley (bass) and Charles "Specs" Wright (drums) he accompanied guest musicians such as Cannonball Adderley at the Blue Note in Philadelphia .

Forman is the stepfather of the percussionist James Mtume (* 1947).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jimmy Heath, Joseph McLaren I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath . Philadelphia: Temple University Press p. 47
  2. ↑ Biography of James Mtume
  3. ↑ a b Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed June 17, 2019)
  4. ↑ Billboard Magazine 1936 to 2014 (Free Archive)
  5. ↑ Dis Here: A Bio-discography of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, 2000, p. 9
personal data
SURNAME Forman, James "Hen Gates"
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Forman, James; Forman Jr., James; Hen Gates (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rhythm & blues and jazz musician (piano)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1920
DATE OF DEATH 20th century or 21st century