Roger Humphries

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Roger Humphries (born January 30, 1944 in Pittsburgh ) is an American jazz drummer and music teacher.

Live and act

Childhood and youth

As the youngest of ten children in a family with a musical background, Roger Humphries was taught drums at a very early age because of his special talent. He performed with professional musicians, the Mary J. Coley Band, and at amateur events when he was four, and won many awards. When he was four and a half years old, he played with a Tab Smith big band in which his uncle Frank Humphries played. After further training, he started working as a professional musician at the age of fourteen. At sixteen he led his own band for a concert at Carnegie Hall . Shortly after finishing school, Stanley Turrentine brought him into his trio with Shirley Scott ; Roger Humphries began his first major tour in August 1962, playing in this trio, which he praised for its dynamism and interaction. Highly acclaimed by critics, he continued to play with other musicians, including James Moody .

successes

In 1964 he was recommended by various musicians Horace Silver and accepted by him into the band; he toured Europe twice with Silver and also played at the Monterey Jazz Festival . In this group it has a big, soft sound on the big drums and toms, which is cut up into rhythmically strongly driving aggressive pieces with sharp-sounding cymbals and cymbals.

He then worked with Ray Charles . This was the first opportunity for him to play as a trained drummer with a big band. He was on a European tour with him and in the USA - u. a. at the Coconut Groove Club in Los Angeles and at the Newport Jazz Festival . Then Humphries appeared in New York City with various groups at Carnegie Hall , Village Gate and the Apollo Theater , but also played in clubs in other cities such as Seattle, Philadelphia and London, and at the Jazz Workshop in Boston. Humphries was able to work with many talented musicians, such as Lee Morgan , Grant Green , Billy Taylor , Lionel Hampton , Coleman Hawkins , Clark Terry , JJ Johnson , Billy Preston, Joe Henderson , Dizzy Gillespie , Jack McDuff , Jon Faddis , Johnny Griffin or Randy Brecker .

Since 1969 he worked from Pittsburgh. There he performed with many locally important musicians with Nathan Davis , Frank Cunimondo, Pete Henderson and Dwayne Dolphin . In 1972 he formed his own band RH Factor , with which three albums were created. In 1980 Roger Humphries toured Europe again with organist Richard "Groove" Holmes and tenor saxophonist Willis Jackson. On this "exciting" tour through France, Spain and Holland they also recorded an album.

In 1996 he founded a big band with which he performed live in Pittsburgh in early 2008. Educational he worked in Pittsburgh from 1980 to 2010 in the local High School for the Creative and Performing Arts ; the University of Pittsburgh also caught him . He participated in a number of hands-on training programs, including the Slippery Rock University Summer Jazz workshop and the Mellon Jazz Masters Class and Concerts. After all, he influenced many jazz drummers through his role model.

Discography (selection)

  • Horace Silver - Song for My Father , ( Blue Note Records , 1964) on some tracks, however, Roy Brooks plays z. B. Calcutta Cutie .
  • Horace Silver - The Cape Verdean Blues , (Blue Note, 1964)
  • Carmell Jones - Jay Hawk Talk , ( Prestige Records , 1965)
  • Nathan Davis - Makatuka , (Segue 1972)
  • Roger Humphries and RH Factor - This' N That , (Corona 1991)
  • Dwayne Dolphin - Portrait of Adrian , ( minor music 1995)
  • Steve Rudolph : Everything I Love (1995), with Dwayne Dolphin
  • Roger Humphries - Don't Give Up
  • Roger Humphries and the RH Factor Keep the Faith (Corona 2011)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Horace Silver Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver , University of California Press 2006, p. 112
  2. ↑ There he was interviewed by Leonard Feather. A summary of this appeared in the 1960s Encyclopedia of Jazz.
  3. ↑ On the two Horace Silver albums Song For My Father and The Cape Verdean Blues
  4. ↑ Roger Humphries Homepage ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rogerlhumphries.com
personal data
SURNAME Humphries, Roger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz drummer
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh