Muhal Richard Abrams

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Muhal Richard Abrams, Moers Festival 2009
Muhal Richard Abrams, Moers Festival 2009

Muhal Richard Abrams (born September 19, 1930 in Chicago , Illinois - † October 29, 2017 ) was an American jazz pianist , clarinetist and composer .

Life

In addition to briefly studying at the Chicago Musical College and the Governors State University in Chicago, Abrams developed his musical training largely self-taught. He co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the AACM's School of Music, and is a member of the Board of Directors of TheNational Jazz Service Organization .

As a jazz musician, he has worked with artists such as Max Roach , Dexter Gordon , Art Farmer , Clifford Jordan , Ari Brown , Sonny Stitt , Anthony Braxton , George Lewis , James Moody , Mwata Bowden and Eddie Harris . In 1961 he formed his experimental band with Harris, Donald Garrett , Victor Sproles , Malachi Favors and Roscoe Mitchell ; In 1963, the bassist Charles Clark was added. In 1967 he recorded his debut album Levels and Degrees of Light for Delmark with musicians such as Braxton, Leroy Jenkins , Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and Thurman Barker . Abrams' experimental band was the core from which the musician organization AACM emerged. Since the 1970s Abrams released on the label Black Saint , like his much acclaimed album Blu Blu Blu from 1990, on which he a. a. worked with John Purcell , Warren Smith and Jack Walrath . His last recordings were made in 2013 when he performed with Jack DeJohnette , Henry Threadgill , Roscoe Mitchell, and Larry Gray at the Chicago Jazz Festival .

In 1990 he was the first recipient of the international Jazzpar Prize . He taught jazz composition and improvisation a. a. at the Banff Center in Banff, Canada, Columbia University , Syracuse University and the BMI Composers Workshop in New York City .

In addition, he composed works for symphonic and chamber music ensembles. a. performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Detroit Symphony Orchestra , the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kronos Quartet .

Honors

In 2010 Abrams received the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship . 2012 awarded him Columbia University , the honorary doctorate ; the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation honored him with the Living Legacy Awardee .

Works

  • Transversion I OP. 6 for symphony orchestra
  • NOVI for symphony orchestra and jazz quartet
  • Variations for Solo Saxophone, Flute, and Chamber Orchestra , 1982
  • Quintet for Voice (Soprano), Piano, Harp, Cello and Violin , 1982
  • Improvisation Structures I - II - III - IV - V - VI , 1983
  • Trio for piano solo, 1984
  • Odyssey of King for chamber orchestra, 1984
  • String Quartet 2 , 1985
  • Piano Duet 1 , 1986
  • Saturation Blue , 1986
  • Folk Tales '88 for symphony orchestra, 1988
  • What a Man , 1991
  • String Quartet 3 , 1992
  • Strings and Things for string trio, 1992
  • Saxophone Quartet I , 1994
  • New Horizons , 1995

Discography

  • Levels and Degrees of Light ( Delmark , 1967)
  • Young At Heart / Wise In Time (Delmark, 1969)
  • Sightsong , 1975
  • 1-OQA + 19 ( Black Saint , 1977)
  • Spiral (Live at Montreux 1978) , 1978
  • Spihumonesty (Black Saint, 1979)
  • Mama And Daddy (Black Saint, 1980)
  • Duet (Black Saint, 1981) with Amina Claudine Myers
  • Blues Forever (Black Saint, 1981)
  • Rejoicing With The Light (Black Saint, 1983)
  • View from Within (Black Saint, 1984)
  • Colors in Thirty-Third (Black Saint, 1986)
  • The Hearinga Suite (Black Saint, 1989)
  • Blu Blu Blu (Black Saint, 1990)
  • Think All, Focus One (Black Saint, 1994)
  • One Line, Two Views (New World, 1995)
  • Song For All Black Saint 1995
  • Open Air Meeting (New World, 1996)
  • The Visibility of Thought (Mutable, 2001)
  • SoundDance (Pi, 2011) with George Lewis

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Muere el innovador jazz ista Muhal Richard Abrams - obituary in El Pais
  2. ^ Obituary in Citizen jazz
  3. ↑ Pianist Muhal Richard Abrams Named BNY Mellon Jazz 2012 Living Legacy Awardee ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Abrams, Muhal Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and clarinetist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH October 29, 2017