Booker Ervin

Booker Ervin ( Ervin Booker Telle Ferro II, born October 31, 1930 in Denison, Texas; † August 31, 1970 in New York City ) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader.

Life and work

His father was a trombonist Booker Ervin, Sr., who played with Buddy Tate. Ervin began with eight years on the same instrument to play like his father. He attended Terrell High School in Denison, where he played in the school orchestra. From 1949 to 1953 Ervin served in the Air Force, where he learned the self-taught saxophone playing. He then attended for one year the Schillinger House (later the Berklee School of Music) in Boston., And was a member of the rhythm-and - blues band from Ernie Fields (1954 /55), out of which were also musicians like Benny Powell and Count Basie After that, he worked for several months with James Clay in Dallas and at Lowell Fulson in Chicago. As a postdoctoral staff worked in Denver and finally went to Pittsburgh, where he met Horace Parlan, with whom he moved to New York City in 1958. He was recommended by Shafi Hadi to Charles Mingus, [ Kunzler 1] who immediately took him in his band, he (with interruptions ) was a member until 1962. Ervin worked, among others, Mingus ' albums like Jazz Portraits - Mingus In Wonderland (1958 ), Blues and Roots, Mingus Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty (1959 ) with and appeared with him on the Jazz Festival of Antibes in 1960 and in Newport in 1960 and 1962. Culmination of their collaboration was the album Mingus Mingus Mingus Impulse Mingus Mingus in January 1963. He also worked with Roland Hanna (1959) and Randy Weston; with him, he traveled 1960 Negro Arts Festival in Lagos and later 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival. In 1961 he played alongside Eric Dolphy in the band of Mal Waldron.

In June 1960 he took on Bethlehem Records released his debut album The Book Cooks with Tommy Turrentine, Zoot Sims, George Tucker and Dannie Richmond on. After his time with Mingus, he led his own quartet and also worked with Horace Parlan and Roland Hanna. In 1962 he played with the U.S. troops support in Greenland. With the album Gumbo, which he recorded 1963/64, with Al Grey, Pony Poindexter and Larry Young, his collaboration began with the Prestige label for which was a series of albums, such as the book- series, including Tommy Flanagan, Carmell Jaki Byard and Jones. 1964 to 1966 and again in 1968, he worked in Europe. In 1965, he performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival with Niels -Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Kenny Drew and Alan Dawson; Excerpts from the concert Horace Parlan published by Ervin's death on the Enja album Lament for Booker. Two years before his early death organized Teddy Edwards for Pacific Jazz a larger ensemble, which focuses Ervin was ( Booker'n'Brass ). In 1968, he looked even more with Andrew on Hills album Grass Roots. Booker Ervin died in late July 1970 from a kidney ailment.

Style

In the opinion of Richard Cook and Brian Morton Ervin's saxophone playing is originally coined by blues sound of his Texan models Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. His way influenced by Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young, and Sonny Rollins was in the lead - in the opinion of Martin Kunzler - from hard bop to freer forms when he went " through the school of Charles Mingus " [ Kunzler 2] and to a highly emotional and strong blue -based game found. . His robust tone metal, biting, in the opinion of Ronnie Scott " male leadership" [ Kunzler 2] Ian Carr described his style: "He had a huge sound and perfect control." [ Kunzler 2] His best-known compositions included, inter alia, "Mojo ", " Boo" and "Uranus ".

Disco Graphical Notes

• Cookin ' ( Savoy Records, 1960) with Horace Parlan, Richard Williams
• The Book Cooks ( Bethlehem Records, 1960) with Tommy Turrentine, Zoot Sims, George Tucker, Dannie Richmond
• That's It ( Candid Records, 1961) with Horace Parlan, George Tucker, Dannie Richmond
• Exultation ( Prestige Records, 1963) with Frank Strozier, Horace Parlan, Butch Warren, Walter Perkins
• The Freedom Book ( Prestige Records, 1963) Jaki Byard with Richard Davis, Alan Dawson
• The Blues Book ( Prestige Records, 1964) with Carmell Jones, Gildo Mahones, Richard Davis, Alan Dawson
• The Song Book ( Prestige Records, 1964) with Tommy Flanagan, Richard Davis, Alan Dawson
• The Space Book ( Prestige Records, 1964) Jaki Byard with, R. Davis, A. Dawson
• Setting The Pace ( Prestige Records, 1965) with Dexter Gordon, Jaki Byard, Reggie Workman, Alan Dawson
• Heavy! ( Prestige Records, 1966) Jaki Byard with Jimmy Owens, R. Workman, A. Dawson
• Structurally Sound ( Blue Note Records, 1966) with Charles Tolliver, John Hicks, Red Mitchell, Lenny McBrowne
• Booker'n'Brass (Pacific Jazz Records, 1967) with Johnny Coles, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Tolliver, Garnett Brown, Kenny Barron
• The In Between ( Blue Note Records, 1968) with Richard Williams, Bobby Few, Cevera Jeffries, Lenny McBrowne