Will Connell

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William "Will" Connell junior (born November 22, 1938 in Los Angeles , California - † November 19, 2014 ) was an American jazz and improvisation musician ( clarinet , bass clarinet , flutes , alto saxophone ), composer and arranger .

Live and act

Connell, whose father was a violinist, grew up in the Liemert Park / Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his family moved in 1950. After attending Dorsey High School, he joined the US Air Force as a contract soldier in 1956, where he was stationed in Korea, Japan and Turkey; During this time he learned to play the alto saxophone. In the mid-1960s his political views became radicalized and he left the army, largely triggered by the Watts race riots in 1965. In the same year he began studying at LA City College. He turned to free jazz and played in local musician cooperatives such as the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA) and in the big band Pan African People's Arkestra . From 1967 to 1974 he worked as a musician with Horace Tapscott , with whom the first recordings were made and whose assistant he became.

From 1975 he lived in New York, where Arthur Blythe made his first contacts. In the following years he was employed full-time as a copyist at Motown . In 1976 he played with Chico Hamilton (heard on the Blue Note album Chico Hamilton and the Players ), for which he also orchestrated. In the following years he was a member of various William Parker ensembles , such as the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra , and he also played with Cecil Taylor and in Steve Swell's N.OW Ensemble , with Sam Rivers , David Murray , Anthony Braxton , Butch Morris , Pharoah Sanders , Roy Campbell and Billy Bang . He also worked as an arranger and copyist for Julius Hemphill , Henry Threadgill and Ornette Coleman ( Skies of America ) and in the field of pop music for Elton John and Ryan Adams . In 1983 he appeared as a member of the Ensemble Commitment (with Jason Kao Hwang , William Parker, Zen Matsuura) at the Moers Festival . He was also on a European tour with Philly Joe Jones . In the field of jazz he was involved in 23 recording sessions between 1969 and 2008. a. also with Alan Silva , Bill Dixon ( 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur , 2007) and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre . His compositions have been performed by Azar Lawrence , David Murray and Don Pullen . In 1980 Connell received a CAPS scholarship for an orchestral work. Most recently he worked with his own quartet, which included Vincent Chancey , Max Johnson and Jeremy Carlstedt .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ obituary of John Pietaro
  2. ↑ Commitment: The Complete Recordings 1981-1983 (review)
  3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed November 21, 2014)
  4. ↑ a b Will Connell Quartet
personal data
SURNAME Connell, Will
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Connell, William Junior (full name); Connell, Will junior (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH 19th November 2014