Lew Soloff

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Steve Ramos , Ray Reach and Lew Soloff

Lew Soloff (born February 20, 1944 in New York City , † March 8, 2015 there ) was an American jazz trumpeter .

Live and act

Soloff came from a musical family; his father was a dancer, his mother a violinist in a variety theater. He had piano lessons as a child and switched to the trumpet at the age of ten. From 1961 he attended the Eastman School of Music and played in hotels and clubs in the Catskill Mountains during the summer vacation . After studying at the Juilliard School of Music , he worked with Philly Joe Jones , Paul Chambers , Elvin Jones and Maynard Ferguson and in the Latin bands of Machito , Tito Puente , and Chuck Mangione . In 1966 he became a member of the big band of Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham .

From 1968 to 1973 Soloff was part of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears , with which he won nine gold records and a Grammy . In 1973 he joined Gil Evans' band , with whom he worked until his death in 1988 and toured worldwide. He founded a quintet with Jon Faddis in 1975, but also performed in a trio with Pete Levin and Jeff Berlin . In the early 1980s he was a member of George Russell's New York Big Band . In the 1980s he and David Matthews founded the Manhattan Jazz Quintet , which included musicians such as Steve Gadd , George Young , Charnett Moffett , Eddie Gomez , John Patitucci , Dave Weckl , Peter Erskine , Bill Evans and Victor Lewis .

Soloff led his own quartet and quintet and was a member of Carla Bly's group 4x4 and her big band. He also worked regularly with Ray Anderson's Pocket Brass Band , the Absolute Ensemble and drummer Bobby Previte . His playing was considered brilliant in the high registers, and he was a sought-after musician for big bands like the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra and studio work.

As a studio musician, he worked with musicians such as Roy Ayers , George Benson , Benny Carter , Stanley Clarke , Oliver Nelson , Jimmy Smith , Johnny Hodges , Paquito D'Rivera , Miles Davis and Quincy Jones , Mercer Ellington , Grant Green , Lionel Hampton , Bob James , Teo Macero , Tânia Maria , Carmen McRae , Laura Nyro , Jaco Pastorius , Lou Reed , Mongo Santamaría , Jimmy Scott , Wayne Shorter or Barbra Streisand together. He also worked with blues legends John Mayall and Charlie Musselwhite and with Philip Glass and Kip Hanrahan .

Soloff has worked on the soundtracks of numerous films (including The Big Lebowski , Lethal Weapon 3 and The Untouchables ). He taught at the Manhattan School of Music for twenty years , as well as at the Juilliard School . Soloff died on March 8, 2015 in New York City after suffering a heart attack on the street the previous day.

Discography

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steve Chawkins: Lew Soloff at this 71; trumpet player for Blood, Sweat and Tears. In: Los Angeles Times of March 8, 2015 (accessed March 9, 2015).
personal data
SURNAME Soloff, Lew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 2015
Place of death New York City , New York