Al Haig

Allan Warren Haig ( born July 22, 1924 in Newark (New Jersey), † November 16, 1982 in New York City ) was an American jazz pianist and one of the pioneers of bebop.

In 1944 Haig first played with Dizzy Gillespie, Tiny Grimes and Charlie Parker ( Bird at St. Nick's 1950) and then belonged until 1946 to the band by Gillespie and then the band of Parker, 1947/48 he worked with Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Ben Webster and Jimmy Dorsey together. With Charlie Parker, he played in May 1949 at the Festival International de Jazz in 1949 in Paris, before he played between the summer of 1949 and 1951 when Stan Getz and participated to its legendary recordings for the record company Roost. Miles Davis brought him to the nonet, with whom he performed the first recordings to Birth of the Cool. Haig played often beyond the jazz context. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were long periods of musical inactivity; In 1954/55, however, he worked with Chet Baker, 1956 Gillespie and 1960 with Perry Lopez.

1968 his wife died under mysterious circumstances Bonnie, so that he stood as a murder suspect in court. G. Rutan describes the process in his book Death of a Bebop Wife ( Redwood, NY: Cadence Jazz Books, 2007 ).

Al Haig, who plays a subdued, inspired by Bud Powell style, is considered one of the leading pianists of the bop period, who was involved in epochal recordings as the first recording of Hot House (1945, with Parker and Gillespie ) or Miles Davis ' Godchild ( 1949).

Discography (selection)

  • Out Of Nowhere ( with C. Parker, 1948)
  • Highlights in Modern Jazz: Al Haig, 1949
  • The Song Is You ( with Stan Getz, 1950)
  • Opus Caprice ( with S. Getz, 1950)
  • Al Haig Trio, 1954
  • Al Haig Quartet, 1954
  • Al Haig Today!, 1965
  • Invitation, 1974
  • Summertime ( with S. Getz, 1976)
  • I Remember Bebop ( with S. Getz, 1977)
  • Ornithology, 1977
  • Inner City (1980 )
  • Bebop Live, 1982
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