Larry Gray

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Larry Gray (born June 26, 1954 in Blue Island , Illinois ) is an American jazz musician ( double bass , cello , composition) who works as a university teacher.

Live and act

Gray first learned accordion as a five-year-old, then guitar; he took piano lessons for many years before switching to bass at the age of twenty (which he later doubled with the cello). He had lessons on this instrument from Joseph Guastafeste, principal bassist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ; He learned the cello from Karl Fruh. He completed both a bachelor's and master's degree. As a soloist he has appeared at various universities such as Northern Illinois University , Roosevelt University and DePaul University ; at the latter he was a member of the jazz faculty. His students included u. a. Brad Goode and Joe Martin . Gray played u. a. with Clark Terry , Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson as house bassist for The Jazz Showcase club ; He also worked on recordings of Chet Baker ( Chet in Chicago: The Legacy Vol. 5 ), Randy Brecker , Frank Catalano , Jodie Christian , Larry Coryell , Ramsey Lewis ( Appassionata , 1999), Bob Moses , Nicholas Payton , Willie Pickens , Buddy Childers and Ira Sullivan with. In 2013 he performed in an all-star cast with Jack DeJohnette , Henry Threadgill , Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams at the Chicago Jazz Festival ( Made in Chicago , ECM). In the field of jazz he was involved in 77 recording sessions between 1980 and 2014.

Gray's composition for double bass and guitar, Five Movements , was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's chamber ensemble. He wrote other commissioned works for the Jazz Institute of Chicago . He played the double bass at the premiere of Anthony Davis ' opera Amistad at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was also principal bassist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, choreographer Lauri Stallings, and the dance companies Hubbard Street Chicago and Joffrey Ballet . Gray currently teaches (2015) as Associate Professor Jazz Bass and Cello at the University of Illinois .

Discographic notes

  • Solo + Quartet (Premonition, 1993), with Edward Petersen, Michael Kocour, Joel Spencer
  • Three Equals One (Chicago Sessions, 2003), with John Moulder, Charles Heath

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Biographical data at Oxford index
  2. Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 27, 2020)