George Coleman

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For other people named George Coleman, see George Coleman (disambiguation).
George Coleman
George Coleman at the Jazz Standard, October 2012.jpg
The George Coleman Quintet, 2012
Background information
Birth name George Edward Coleman
Born (1935-03-08) March 8, 1935 (age 89)
Origin Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Genres Jazz, hard bop, post-bop
Occupation(s) Saxophonist
Composer
Bandleader
Teacher
Instruments Saxophone
Years active 1950s–present
Labels Evidence, Telarc
Associated acts Jimmy Smith
Miles Davis
Herbie Hancock
B.B. King
Max Roach
Slide Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Ahmad Jamal
Joey DeFrancesco
Chet Baker
Website www.GeorgeColeman.com

George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master for 2015.[1]

Biography

Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was taught how to play the alto saxophone in his teens by his older brother Lucian Adams, inspired (like many jazz musicians of his generation) by Charlie Parker. Among his schoolmates were Harold Mabern, Booker Little, Frank Strozier, Hank Crawford, and Charles Lloyd.[2] After working with Ray Charles, Coleman started working with B.B. King in 1953,[3] at which point he switched to tenor saxophone.[4] In 1956 Coleman moved to Chicago, along with Booker Little, where he worked with Gene Ammons and Johnny Griffin before joining Max Roach's quintet 1958–1959. Coleman recorded with organist Jimmy Smith's Houseparty (1957), with Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Burrell, and Donald Bailey. Moving to New York with Max Roach in that year, he went on to play with Slide Hampton (1959–1962), Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, and Wild Bill Davis (1962), before joining Miles Davis's quintet in 1963–1964.[5]

His albums with Davis (and the rhythm section of Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums)) are Seven Steps to Heaven (1963), A Rare Home Town Appearance (1963), Côte Blues (1963), In Europe (1963), My Funny Valentine (1964) and Four & More, both live recordings of a concert in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York in February 1964. Shortly after this concert, Coleman was replaced by Wayne Shorter. Nevertheless, Miles retained a high opinion of Coleman's playing, stating that 'George played everything almost perfectly...He was a hell of a musician.' He played with Lionel Hampton (1965–1966), also in 1965 and performed on Chet Baker's The Prestige Sessions, with Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright and Roy Brooks.[6] Charles Mingus (1977–1978), Shirley Scott (1972), Clark Terry, Horace Silver, Elvin Jones (1968), Cedar Walton (1975), Ahmad Jamal (1994, 2000), and many others.

Coleman also appeared in the film Freejack (1992), the science-fiction film with Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, and Anthony Hopkins; and 1996’s The Preacher's Wife with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.[7]

Coleman recorded into the 2000s. His CD as co-leader, Four Generations of Miles: A Live Tribute to Miles, with bassist Ron Carter, drummer Jimmy Cobb and guitarist Mike Stern was released on Chesky Records in October 2002 and it concentrates almost exclusively on the 1950s repertoire of Miles Davis. Tracks include: "There Is No Greater Love," "All Blues," "On Green Dolphin Street," "Blue in Green," "81," "Freddie Freeloader," "My Funny Valentine," "If I Were a Bell," and "Oleo." He was featured on Joey DeFrancesco's 2006 release Organic Vibes, along with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, Billboard's Top Jazz Album, peaked to No. 17.[8]

Coleman was married to jazz organist Gloria Coleman and is father to jazz drummer George Coleman Jr..

Discography

As leader

Year recorded Title Notes Label
1977 Meditation with Tete Montoliu Timeless
1978 Amsterdam After Dark Timeless
1979 Playing Changes Jazz House
1985 Manhattan Panorama live album Theresa
1990 Convergence with Richie Beirach Triloka
1991 My Horns of Plenty Verve
1987 At Yoshi's Theresa Records
1996 Danger High Voltage Two & Four Recordings
1996 Blues Inside Out live album Jazz House
1998 I Could Write a Book: The Music of Richard Rodgers Telarc
2002 Four Generations of Miles: A Live Tribute to Miles live album Chesky
2016 A Master Speaks Smoke Sessions

As sideman

With Chet Baker

With Roy Brooks

With Miles Davis

With Joey DeFrancesco

  • Organic Vibes (Concord, 2005)

With Slide Hampton

With Herbie Hancock

With Ahmad Jamal

  • The Essence Part One (Birdology, 1995)
  • Ahmad Jamal à l'Olympia (Dreyfus, 2001; recorded live 2000)

With Elvin Jones

With Booker Little

With Harold Mabern

With Jack McDuff

With Lee Morgan

With Idris Muhammad

With Don Patterson

With John Patton

With Duke Pearson

With Max Roach

With Shirley Scott

With Jimmy Smith

With Melvin Sparks

With Charles Tolliver

With Roseanna Vitro

With Mal Waldron

With Cedar Walton

With Reuben Wilson

References

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External links

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  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Vladimir, Bogdanov. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues, Backbeat Books, page 133, (2003) - ISBN 0-87930-736-6
  3. ↑ All About Jazz: George Coleman: This Gentleman can PLAY
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 887, (1995) - ISBN 1-56159-176-9
  5. ↑ Billboard: George Coleman bio
  6. ↑ Yanow, Scott. Trumpet Kings: The Players Who Shaped the Sound of Jazz Trumpet, Backbeat Books, page 34, (2001) - ISBN 0-87930-640-8
  7. ↑ IMDb: George Coleman
  8. ↑ Template:BillboardEncode/J/chart Billboard: Organic Vibes
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