Denis Charles
Denis Charles Alphonso, Dennis Charles ( born December 4, 1933 in the St. Croix ( U.S. Virgin Islands); † 26 March 1998 in New York City ) was an American jazz drummer.
Life and work
Denis Charles began his musical career as a child; the age of nine he was playing bongos in a popular Inselkappelle. In 1945 he moved with his younger brother to his mother to Harlem, New York, where he first played in calypso and mambo orchestras. Charles, however, felt drawn to jazz, his models during this time were Roy Haynes and Art Blakey - he acquired his musical skills self-taught. In 1952 he met Cecil Taylor, in whose formation he played from 1955-60. The late 1950s and early 1960s worked Charles beyond with Gil Evans ( Great Jazz Standards, 1959), Jimmy Giuffre, Sonny Rollins and Steve Lacy. That's when his acquaintance with Ed Blackwell, who influenced him greatly. In the second half of the 60s he worked with Archie Shepp. In the late 1960s Charles disappears because of his heroin addiction from the scene.
Around the year 1980 he is "rediscovered", toured again and recorded with Steve Lacy, among others, Billy Bang, Jemeel Moondoc. Wilber Morris, William Parker and Charles Tyler.
Denis Charles died four days after the end of a five-week European tour Borgmann / Morris / Charles ( BMC ) Trio, in which he played together with Wilber Morris and Thomas Borgmann. His last concert was the trio in Berlin, Willy Brandt House. With the BMC trio he had played in the last two years of his life four CDs.
Disco printing specifications
- Billy Bang: Bangception, Willisau 1982 ( Has Musics, 1983)
- Queen Mary ( Silkheart Records, 1989) with Wilber Morris
- Captain of the Deep, 1991 ( Eremite Records, 1998) with Jemeel Moondoc
- Borgmann / Morris / Charles ( BMC) Trio: The Last Concert - Thank you ( Silkheart Records, 1999)
- Cecil Taylor: Jazz Advance ( Transition Records, 1956), Looking Ahead! (Contemporary Records, 1959)
- Sonny Rollins: What's New? (RCA Victor, 1962)
- Steve Lacy- Roswell Rudd Quartet: School Days, 1963 ( Emanem Records, 1975)
- Billy Bang: Rainbow Gladiator ( Soul Note, 1981)
- Steve Lacy: The Flame ( Soul Note, 1982)
- Wilber Morris: Wilber Force ( DIW, 1983)
- William Parker In Order To Survive ( Black Saint, 1993)
Swell
- Martin Kunzler: Jazz Encyclopedia. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002
- Todd S. Jenkins: Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004 ISBN 0-31-329881-5.