Jimmy Woode

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jimmy Woode with the singer Sonya Hedenbratt

Jimmy Woode (* 23. September 1929 born James Bryant Woode in Philadelphia ; † 23. April 2005 in Lindenwold , New Jersey ) was an American jazz - double bass player .

Life

James Bryant Woode was born in Philadelphia on September 23, 1929 . His uncle, Henri Woode , was an arranger in big bands , and his father, Jimmy Woode Sr , was a pianist and teacher. Jimmy Woode first played as a trombonist in his father's band, as a pianist in churches and as a singer in vocal ensembles. He studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Music , Boston University and the Boston Conservatory, and later took bass lessons with Paul Gregory . During his military service, he served as a radar technician in the US Navy.

After the end of the war, he soon played as a jazz bassist with jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong , Charlie Parker , Ella Fitzgerald , Miles Davis , Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan . He proudly talked about his time with Duke Ellington , whose big band he belonged to from 1955 to 1959. Ellington himself praised Woode as a musician with team spirit. Woode, who also made a lasting contribution to jazz history as a composer, stayed until the end.

In 1960 Woode moved to Europe , where he first worked in Sweden and later in Germany , Holland , Austria and Switzerland with the most famous musicians from all styles. His participation in the Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band , the most important European jazz big band of the sixties, will be remembered in particular . Since the 1970s he has also been part of Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination and Brass .

In the early to mid-1970s he lived in Vienna and was a member of the ORF Big Band as well as local jazz formations such as the legendary Printers Jazzband, the Fritz Pauer Trio, the Leo Wright Quintet, the Erich Kleinschuster Sextet and the Art Farmer Quintet. He also accompanied numerous star guests from the USA such as Hal Singer , Pony Poindexter , Jimmy Witherspoon , Oliver Jackson , Nat Pierce , Britt Woodman and many others in Vienna's Jazzland .

In 1994 Woode founded the super trio with pianist Dirk Raufeisen and drummer Charly Antolini .

He was also the bass player of the legendary Dorothy Donegan Trio for a long time . The trio celebrated triumphs at the North Sea Jazz Festival and on many tours mainly in Switzerland and Austria.

In 2003 he formed a trio with drummers Pete York and Helge Schneider and reached a young audience on a Germany-wide tour, to whom he brought classical jazz back to life with his interpretations of jazz standards such as " Georgia " and " Summertime ".

His appearance in the movie " Jazzclub - The early bird catches the worm " (director: Helge Schneider, Germany 2004) also resulted from his collaboration with Schneider .

Jimmy Woode died unexpectedly on April 23, 2005 at the age of 75 in the US state of New Jersey after a hip operation. He left hundreds of records and CDs. His last recording was made in January and February 2005 in Hanover together with the saxophonist Stephan Abel and is entitled "My Kind of World".

Discographic notice

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to Bohländer et al. a. Reclams Jazzführer , 1989. According to other sources, he was born in 1928 (e.g. Ian Carr et al. Jazz Rough Guide , Stuttgart 1999) or even in 1926 ( obituary in the Guardian )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Woode, Jimmy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Woode, James Bryant (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz double bass player
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 2005
Place of death Lindenwold , New Jersey