Larry Novak

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Lawrence R. "Larry" Novak (born May 18, 1933 in Chicago ; † August 2, 2020 ) was an American jazz pianist . He was active in the Chicago music scene.

Live and act

Novak had piano lessons from the age of five before turning to jazz at the age of 14 . After studying at Loyola University Chicago and the University of Minnesota , he did his military service in 1959/60, during which he played in a band. After his discharge from the US Army, he led a trio that acted as a house band at Chicago's London House nightclub from 1961 to 1963 and at Mr. Kelly's club from 1963 to 1975. He played with his trio in the early 1960s at London House as a backing band for Charlie Shavers , making the first recordings.

In the middle of the decade he released his debut album Larry Novak Plays! on which Cleveland Eaton (double bass) and drummers Vernell Fournier and Curtis Prince respectively played. It mostly contained standard material like " Nature Boy ", " Autumn Leaves ", " It Ain't Necessarily So " and "Don't Explain". In the 1960s and 70s he worked a. a. with Joe Morello (Another Step Forward) and Dick Noel , in the following decade with woodwind player Roger Pemberton and flugelhornist Warren Kime , and with Louie Bellson and Lucy Reed .

In a duo with Warren Kime, he played the album Songs for a Sophisticated Lady (Claremont) in 1981 ; In addition to the title track , it contained versions of standards such as " The Very Thought of You " or " In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning ". In the 1990s and 2000s he took a. a. with Frank Catalano ( Live at the Green Mill 2001), Eddie Daniels , Buddy DeFranco , Von Freeman , Terry Gibbs and Nick Tountas . In the mid-2010s, Larry Novak played the trio album Invitation (with Eric Hochberg (bass) and Rusty Jones, drums) for Delmark Records . In the field of jazz he was involved in 28 recording sessions between 1962 and 2015.

Lexical entry

  • Deborah Gillespie, Larry Novak . Grove Jazz online

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pianist Larry Novak, 'a giant' of Chicago jazz, dies. Chicago SunTimes, August 3, 2020, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 20, 2016)
personal data
SURNAME Novak, Larry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Novak, Lawrence R.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 2020