Marvin Jenkins

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Marvin Lee "Marv" Jenkins (born December 8, 1932 in Aultman (Ohio) ; † March 4, 2005 in Pasadena , California ) was an American singer, pianist (also flute, organ, tenor saxophone) and songwriter of rhythm and blues and soul jazz .

Live and act

Jenkins' mother played the piano and his brother Obie ran bands in Canton, Ohio. Marvin had piano lessons from the age of ten; he also learned the organ, clarinet and flute. 1946-1954 he played first in his brother's band and in an army band (1954-1956) before moving to the west coast of the USA. An award at the Intercollegiate Jazz Festival with the LA State College Quintet in 1959 led to gigs with Barney Kessel . In 1960 the album Marv Jenkins Arrives (Orovox) was released. a. Contained the jazz standard Stella By Starlight . He worked u. a. with Carmell Jones , Buddy Collette , Groove Holmes , Charles Kynard , Ray Crawford , Cannonball Adderley , Shirley Horn and Les McCann .

In the early 1960s, Neal Hefti brought him to Reprise Records , where Jenkins released the two albums A Tribute to My People (1961) and Marv Jenkins at the Rubaiyat Room - Little Big Man (1962). In the field of jazz he was involved in six recording sessions between 1960 and 1963. In 1965 the album Big City (Palomar Records) was released, which contained the single I've Got the Blues (What Shall I Do) . In later years he toured with Della Reese ; In 1973 he worked on Marvin Gaye's album Let's Get It On ( Motown ). An arthritis illness forced him to end his music career in the 1980s; from then on he worked as a music teacher. Jenkins' playing combined the jazz piano of Oscar Peterson and Ramsey Lewis with the popular styles of Gene Harris and Les McCann. He wrote the song Bright Lights (Big City) , which was interpreted by Shirley Horn, Les McCann, Gloria Lynne and Della Reese; his song Lately was recorded by Billy Paul .

Discographic notes

  • Hollywood's Little Giant of Jazz ( Fresh Sound Records ; contains the three LPs Marv Jenkins Arrives (1960), ´ A Tribute to My People (1961) and Good Little Man from 1962)

Lexical entry

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ with Stanley Gilbert (bass) and Kenny Dennis (drums)
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed June 4, 2014)
  3. ↑ http://noted.blogs.com/westcoastmusic/2005/03/marvin_jenkins_.html
  4. ^ Billboard Nov. 23, 1963
personal data
SURNAME Jenkins, Marvin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jenkins, Marvin Lee (full name); Jenkins, Marv (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Aultman (Ohio)
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 2005
Place of death Pasadena , California