Percy Brice

Percy Brice (* 25. March 1923 in New York City ) is an American jazz - drummer and percussionist.

Percy Brice studied piano and violin; he began his career in Luis Russell's band in 1944. He then worked in 1945/46 with Benny Carter and in 1947 with Mercer Ellington , then in rhythm and blues bands with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson , Tab Smith , and Cootie Williams , Oscar Pettiford , Lucky Thompson and Tiny Grimes . In the 1950s, Brice briefly led his own formation; then he worked in the piano trios of Billy Taylor (1954-56) and George Shearing until 1958. Bruce also worked with Shearing in a film with ( The Big Beat ). In the late 1950s he worked as a freelance musician around New York City and played with artists such as Herbie Mann , Kenny Burrell and Sarah Vaughan , among others . With her he also went on a tour of South America. From 1961 he worked in the accompanying band of Harry Belafonte ; a collaboration that would last approximately eight years, then for Carmen McRae , Mary Lou Williams ( Black Christ of the Andes , 1964) and Ahmad Jamal .

In the 1970s, Brice mainly worked in Broadway show bands and accompanied a tap dance group called The Copasetics . He also appeared at jazz festivals and was involved in various record sessions. Before his death, he formed a duo with Tab Smith whose repertoire included jazz music from the 1920s to the 1950s. In the 1980s he worked with Illinois Jacquet .

Discographic notes

• Billy Taylor Trio with Earl May and Percy Brice ( Prestige Records , 1954/55)

swell

• Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler: Reclams Jazzführer (= Reclams Universal Library. No. 10185). 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-15-010185-9 .
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
• Bielefeld Catalog Jazz 2001
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .

Web links

• Percy Brice Biography by Eugene Chadbourne in the All Music Guide