Shafi Hadi

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Shafi Hadi (born September 21, 1929 in Philadelphia as Curtis Porter ) is a former American jazz saxophonist ( alto and tenor saxophone ). He is mainly remembered for his work in the 1950s bands of Charles Mingus .

Live and act

Hadi studied composition at Howard University and the University of Detroit . The alto and tenor saxophonist initially played with Paul Williams , the Griffin Brothers and other rhythm and blues- oriented orchestras. The collaboration with Charles Mingus began in March 1957: he and his quintet recorded the record The Clown , with which he made his breakthrough in the front row of jazz celebrities. Jimmy Knepper , Wade Legge and Mingus' longtime drummer Dannie Richmond also took part in the session . A quarter of a year later followed the recording of Tijuana Moods , one of the bassist's most successful records. The title "Ysabel's Table Dance" should be best known. The pianist Bill Evans was also involved in the " East Coasting " session (1957) that followed. In September the last recordings for Mingus' own label Debut Records took place. After recording for A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry , Hadi also played on Mingus' Columbia album Mingus Ah Um . After that, Hadi's engagement with Charles Mingus ended.

Shafi Hadi also played with Hank Mobley (1957), Horace Parlan and Langston Hughes (with Charles Mingus 1958). He can be heard as a soloist in the film Shadows by John Cassavetes from 1959, in which Mingus was also involved. In the field of jazz he was involved in 16 recording sessions between 1951 and 1959, according to Tom Lord . In 1967 he composed the piece "Shafi" with Mary Lou Williams ; then his traces are lost.

Discographic notes

Records with Charles Mingus:

Lexical entry

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed November 24, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Hadi, Shafi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Porter, Curtis (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz saxophonist
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States