John Merritt Young
John Merritt Young (born March 16, 1922 in Little Rock , Arkansas , † April 16, 2008 ) was an American jazz pianist and arranger .
John Young grew up in Chicago , Illinois , learned to play the piano as a child and attended DuSable High School. He began performing at the age of twelve; an early influence was Earl Hines . In 1939 he got his first professional job at a resort near Grand Rapids (Michigan) ; then he played in the house band at Joe's DeLuxe Club . He had his breakthrough as a member of the Andy Kirk Big Band , to which he belonged from September 1942 to 1945 and again in 1946/47. Young also contributed a number of arrangements during this period. On his return to Chicago, he appeared in the band of Dick Davis from 1947 to 1950. In 1950 Young founded his own formation, which included the drummer Eldridge "Bruz" Freeman and the bassist Leroy Jackson , and which resulted in recordings for Seymour Records .
From 1951 to 1955 Young played with Eddie Chamblee and participated in his recordings for Premium , Coral and United Records before he worked with his own ensemble in 1955. Young's trio performed in the South Side of Chicago over the next few years, such as the Kitty Kat Club (611 East 63rd, with singer Lorez Alexandria ), the Pershing Lounge (755 East 64th), the Sutherland Lounge (46th and Drexel ) and Laura's 819 Lounge (819 West 59th).
In 1957 he recorded his first album, John Young Trio , for the Chess sub-label Argo , followed by Themes and Things (1961) and A Touch of Pepper (1963). Serenata (1959) was created for the Delmark label and Think Young (1987) for the major label .
During the 1970s, Young played frequently with Von Freeman and took part in his recordings for Atlantic (1972), Nessa (1975) and Daybreak (1977) with. In 1992 he recorded an album with Freeman and Yusef Lateef for Lateef's YAL label.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Obituary at Jazz review ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. online, (english)
- ↑ a b c d Robert L. Campbell and Robert Pruter: The Seymour Label ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2010 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. (accessed June 17, 2010)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Young, John Merritt |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Little Rock , Arkansas |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 16, 2008 |
| Place of death | Chicago |