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
- Hanalei Bay with Gil Evans, Pete Levin, Hiram Bullock , Adam Nussbaum , Kenwood Dennard , Manolo Badrena , 1983
- Yesterdays with Mike Stern , Charnett Moffett, Elvin Jones , 1986
- My Romance with Mark Egan , Janis Siegel , Danny Gottlieb , Pete Levin, Airto Moreira , Gil Goldstein , Emily Mitchell , 1989
- Little Wing with Ray Anderson, Gil Goldstein, Pete Levin, Mark Egan, Kenwood Dennard, Manolo Badrena, 1991
- But Beautiful with Kenny Kirkland , Richard Davis , Elvin Jones , 1993
- With A Song In My Heart with Victor Lewis , Emily Mitchell, Mulgrew Miller , George Mraz , 1999
- Rainbow Mountain with Lou Marini , Joe Beck , Mark Egan, Danny Gottlieb, 2000
- Air On a G String with Larry Willis , François Moutin , Victor Lewis, 2003
Lexigraphic entries
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
Web links
- Literature by and about Lew Soloff in the catalog of the German National Library
- Lew Soloff in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Lew Soloff's website
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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 | |
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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 |