Maurice White

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Maurice White in Munich (1975)

Maurice White (born December 19, 1941 in Memphis , Tennessee , † February 3, 2016 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American musician and the founder of the American funk , soul and R&B band Earth, Wind and Fire .

life and career

At the age of 14, Maurice White played in local bands with his friend Booker T. Jones . After graduating from high school , he moved with his family to Chicago , where he discovered his talent for drums and worked as a drummer in many studio recordings at Chess Records . It was there that he met the then bassist Louis Satterfield , who would later play with Earth, Wind and Fire . White began studying music at the Chicago Conservatory of Music .

Ramsey Lewis persuaded White to become a drummer in his jazz trio in 1967. However, White wanted his own, larger band and founded the Salty Peppers in 1969 . After a single with the title La La Time on Capitol Records , the band hoped to be able to record an album there, but that didn't materialize.

White, who was dissatisfied with the music of the Salty Peppers , wanted to start a larger group with a different genre, a band that played more funk , soul and R&B . After lengthy castings on the west coast, he put together a nine-member band in 1970, which he called Earth, Wind and Fire . Maurice took over the vocal part , played percussion and integrated the kalimba , an African instrument, into the EW&F sound.

White composed, arranged, and produced most of the group's tracks, which by 2003 released 15 hit singles and 26 gold and platinum albums. He also worked with many other musicians, including The Emotions , Jennifer Holliday and Barbra Streisand .

After Earth Wind & Fire had temporarily split up in 1985 due to musical differences, he recorded his first solo album Maurice White . The single Stand by Me (an adaptation of the " Ben E. King " classic) became a small hit.

For health reasons, White decided in 1995 not to perform with EW&F anymore. He later announced that he had Parkinson's disease . However, this did not prevent him from continuing to compose, produce and arrange songs for EW&F and other musicians.

In March 2007 his solo project Interpretations was published: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire . On this CD, some EWF classics have been reinterpreted by various musicians such as Chaka Khan , Kirk Franklin and Angie Stone .

Maurice White died on February 3, 2016 at the age of 74 at his Los Angeles home.

Solo album

  • Maurice White (1985)

Web links

Commons : Maurice White  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Matt Friedlander: Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White Is Dead at 74. ABC News , February 4, 2016, accessed April 5, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Maurice White: The founder of Earth, Wind & Fire is dead . Spiegel Online , February 5, 2016, accessed February 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ Founder of Earth, Wind and Fire, Maurice White, died . Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 5, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME White, Maurice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, founder of the band Earth, Wind and Fire
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis , Tennessee , United States
DATE OF DEATH 3rd February 2016
Place of death Los Angeles , California , United States