Milt BUCKNER

⬇️ MILT BUCKNER ⬇️

(Milton Brent Buckner)

DISCOGRAPHY 1962-2023 (24CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Milton Brent Buckner (July 10, 1915 – July 27, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and organist, who in the early 1950s popularized the Hammond organ. He pioneered the parallel chords style that influenced Red Garland, George Shearing, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. Buckner's brother, Ted Buckner, was a jazz saxophonist.

Milton Brent Buckner was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents encouraged him to learn to play piano, but they both died when he was nine years old. Milt and his younger brother Ted were sent to Detroit where they were adopted by members of the Earl Walton band: trombonist John Tobias, drummer George Robinson fostered Milt and reedplayer Fred Kewley (né Fred Cecil Kewley; 1889–1953) fostered Ted. Buckner studied piano for three years from the age 10, then at 15 began writing arrangements for the band, he and his brother going on to become active in the Detroit jazz world in the 1930s.

Buckner first played in Detroit with the McKinney's Cotton Pickers and then with Cab Calloway. In 1941, he joined Lionel Hampton's big band, and for the next seven years served as its pianist and staff arranger. Buckner was part of a Variety Revue of 1950 organized by Lionel Hampton at the Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on June 25, 1950. He led a short-lived big band of his own for two years, but then returned to Hampton's in 1950.

In 1952, he formed his own trio and pioneered the use of the electric Hammond organ. He often played in Europe in the late 1960s. His last studio session took place in Paris on July 4, 1977. Milt Buckner is also known for the use of his song "The Beast" in the film Mulholland Drive and in the title menu of the video game Battlefield: Bad Company.

Buckner died of a heart attack in July 1977, in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 62.  (Wikipedia)

'Brother JACK McDUFF

 'BROTHER' 
⬇️ JACK McDUFF ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY 1960-2004 (40CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Born Eugene McDuffy in Champaign, Illinois, McDuff began playing bass, appearing in Joe Farrell's group. Encouraged by Willis Jackson in whose band he also played bass in the late 50s, McDuff moved to the organ and began to attract the attention of Prestige Records while still with Jackson's group. McDuff soon became a bandleader, leading groups featuring a young George Benson, Red Holloway on saxophone and Joe Dukes on drums.

McDuff recorded many classic albums on Prestige including his debut solo Brother Jack in 1960, The Honeydripper (1961), with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and guitarist Grant Green, and Brother Jack Meets The Boss (1962), featuring Gene Ammons, and Screamin’ (1962).

After his tenure at Prestige, McDuff joined the Atlantic Records label for a brief period and then in the 70s recorded for Blue Note. To Seek a New Home (1970) was recorded in England with a line-up featuring blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon and some of Britain's top jazz musicians of the day, including Terry Smith on guitar and Dick Morrissey on tenor sax.

The decreasing interest in jazz and blues during the late 70s and 1980s meant that many jazz musicians went through a lean time and it wasn't until the late 1980s, with The Re-Entry, recorded for the Muse label in 1988, that McDuff once again began a successful period of recordings, initially for Muse, then on the Concord Jazz label from 1991. George Benson appeared on his mentor’s 1992 Colour Me Blue album.

Despite health problems, McDuff continued working and recording throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and toured Japan with Atsuko Hashimoto in 2000. "Captain" Jack McDuff, as he later became known, died of heart failure at the age of 74 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Big John PATTON

⬇️ JOHN PATTON ⬇️
("Big" John Patton)
DISCOGRAPHY 1963-2003 (26CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

John Patton (July 12, 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri – March 19, 2002 in Montclair, New Jersey), sometimes nicknamed Big John Patton, was a hard bop and soul jazz organist.

After spending time with the Lloyd Price orchestra, he recorded extensively for Blue Note, and performed or collaborated with Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, and John Zorn. His music evolved to incorporate elements of modal and free jazz, without ever losing the basic, earthy groove that he brought to it from the beginning.

He wrote some classics and will be remembered fondly both by musicians and fans. His stellar work included "Funky Mama" and Along Came John.

During the late 60s John recorded some very adventurous music for the Blue Note label with artists such as Harold Alexander and George Coleman on lps such as Understanding and Accent on the Blues. Of particular note on the early sessions recorded for Blue Note both under his own name and also with George Braith, Don Wilkerson and Lou Donaldson was the superlative empathy he developed with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon - an organ trio whose work in the soul jazz genre remains unsurpassed to this day.

Since the resurgence in interest in music from this period Blue Note has unearthed many sessions that lay in the vaults. LPs such as Blue John which was actually penciled for release, but never was, and two fantastic (and forward looking) albums Boogaloo and Memphis New York Spirit saw the light of day and showed the world more of this exceptional artist's work.

He continued recording until the late 1990s and his LPs (listed below) are well worth finding. In these later years he developed a loyal following in both Japan and Europe - which he toured to great acclaim. He also played live in the US and abroad to great acclaim with several dates having been recorded by collectors. Most recently George Braith issued Eagle Eye Blues on his own label.

In 2001, Patton performed "Money Jungle" with Ron Carter and Black Star for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

Jimmy SMITH

⬇️ JIMMY SMITH ⬇️

(James Oscar Smith)
DISCOGRAPHY 1956-2007 (110CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

        

Jimmy Smith (December 8, 1925 or 1928 – February 8, 2005) was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize the instrument.

In 2005, Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians.

His birth year is of some confusion, with various sources citing either 1925 or 1928. Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, at the age of six he joined his father doing a song-and-dance routine in clubs. He began teaching himself to play the piano.

When he was nine, Smith won a Philadelphia radio talent contest as a boogie-woogie pianist. After a stint in the navy, he began furthering his musical education in 1948, with a year at Royal Hamilton College of Music, then the Leo Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia in 1949.....

Barbara DENNERLEIN

⬇️BARBARA DENNERLEIN⬇️

DISCOGRAPHY 1984-2015 (26CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

       

Barbara Dennerlein (born 25 September 1964 in Munich, Germany) is a hard bop, post-bop, and jazz organist. She has achieved particular critical acclaim for using the bass pedalboard on a Hammond organ, and for integrating synthesizer sounds onto the instrument, and has been described as "the most interesting jazz organist to emerge during the 1980s.

Dennerlein was born and grew up in Munich. She began playing the organ aged 11 after getting a small Hohner instrument for Christmas. She was encouraged by her grandfather to learn a musical instrument, and her parents were both jazz enthusiasts.

She took formal lessons for two years under the instruction of Paul Greisl, who had a Hammond B-3. She immediately became interested in the instrument, and the fact it contained a bass pedalboard unlike her Hohner.

After some searching, since the instrument was then out of production, she acquired her own Hammond aged 13 from her parents. She began to play concerts aged 14, and the following year, she played in a jazz club for the first time.

When leading her own bands, Dennerlein was often the youngest musician in the group, and she learned to cooperate with more experienced musicians. Her local reputation as the "Organ tornado from Munich" spread after her first TV appearances in 1982.....

Johnny 'Hammond' SMITH

⬇️JOHNNY 'Hammond' SMITH⬇️
(John Robert Smith)
DISCOGRAPHY 1959-2012 (25CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

John Robert Smith (December 16, 1933 – June 4, 1997), also known as Johnny "Hammond" Smith, was an American soul jazz and hard bop organist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ so earning "Hammond" as a nickname, which also avoided his being confused with jazz guitarist Johnny Smith.

Smith played with Paul Williams and Chris Columbo before forming his own group. His bands featured singers Etta Jones, Byrdie Green, saxophonists Houston Person, Earl Edwards, guitarists Eddie McFadden, Floyd Smith, James Clark, vibist Freddie McCoy. His career took off as he was serving as accompanist to singer Nancy Wilson. One of his last accomplishments also included Nancy Wilson. He wrote the song "Quiet Fire" for her "Nancy Now" release in 1989.

After a 10-year spell on Prestige Records throughout the 60s resulting in a series of albums, he signed for soul/R'n'B influenced Kudu imprint of Creed Taylor's well-regarded CTI Records jazz record label in 1971.

His first album for Taylor, "Break Out" was chosen that year to launch Kudu. The album featured Grover Washington Jr. as a sideman prior to the launch of his career as a solo recording artist. Three further albums followed with Taylor on Kudu, as he decided to refer to himself as "Johnny Hammond", after deciding to drop "Smith" from his name.

His style had become increasingly funky as he adapted to the style changes in music, culminating in two popular albums with the Mizell Brothers, "Gambler's Life" (1974) for the CTI offshoot, Salvation and then in 1975, "Gears" after switching to another jazz label, Milestone Records. He began using electric and acoustic pianos, starting with "Gambler's Life", in addition to his signature instrument.

Hammond's song "Shifting Gears" was featured on the breakbeat compilation Ultimate Breaks and Beats, and was also featured in the soundtrack of the 2006 video game Driver: Parallel Lines as well.

Jamiroquai first lineup cited Hammond as an influence and borrowed some bassline progression from the song "Los Conquistadores Chocolates" for their tune "When you gonna learn" after Sir Hammond agreement.

Smith also taught at the Cal Poly Pomona music department for several years, beginning in January 1987.