Rollins Griffith

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Rollins Griffith ( 1925 - January 2, 1978 ) was an American jazz pianist and music teacher who was active in the Boston jazz scene .

Live and act

Griffith graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1949. In 1946 he recorded in a duo with Serge Chaloff . In addition to his main job as a music teacher in the public school system, he was a member of the house band of the Boston jazz club Hi-Hat from 1952 . From 1953 he played regularly in the Storyville jazz club , first in a trio with Slam Stewart and Marquis Foster , then with Jimmy Woode and Jo Jones . In December 1953, and in January 1954 accompanied Griffith with Foster and Woode to the hi-hat occurring Charlie Parker . The January concert was recorded for the radio; later the recordings were published on record.

Griffith continued his education in the second half of the 1950s; he earned masters degrees from Boston University and degrees in education from Boston State College . In 1959 he performed his own nonet at the Boston Arts Festival . In 1960 he took part in the recordings of Harry Carney and in 1960/61 he appeared with a trio before ending his career as an active musician. In the field of jazz he was involved in seven recording sessions between 1946 and 1960. From 1966 he worked in the public school system and supervision of Boston as Assistant Principal , from 1969 as Principal and from 1970 as the first African American as Assistant Superintendent . He died of complications from leukemia at the age of 52. In memory of Griffith, the City of Boston created the Rollins Griffith Memorial Scholarship ; a training center for teachers also bears his name.

Discographic notes

  • Serge Chaloff: The Complete Small Group Bop Sessions
  • Charlie Parker: Bird at the Hi-Hat (ed. 1993)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d http://troystreet.com/tspots/tag/rollins-griffith/
  2. ↑ Lawrence O. Koch Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker 1988, pp. 250ff.
  3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed October 14, 2014)
  4. ↑ http://www.cityofboston.gov/youthzone/collegeguide/RGMS.asp
personal data
SURNAME Griffith, Rollins
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH 1925
DATE OF DEATH 2nd January 1978