Harold Vick

Harold Vick ( born April 3, 1936 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina; † 13 November 1987 in New York City ) was an American musician (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute ) of the hard bop and soul jazz.

Harold Vick was born in the small town of Rocky Mount, from which the pianist Thelonious Monk comes. Vick began mitt 13 years to work as a musician when his uncle Prince Robinson ( tenor saxophonist who had played with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and McKinney 's Cotton Pickers ) gave him a clarinet. At 16, he switched to tenor saxophone and played in R & B bands. In the 1950s he moved to Washington, DC to study psychology at Howard University. In addition, he has performed with local R & B bands.

In 1960 he moved Harold Vick with Joe Bonner to New York to work as a professional musician. From 1961 he was a member of the band by Jack McDuff with Joe Dukes and participated in McDuff Prestige albums, like Brother Jack Meets the Boss ( 1962) and Crash ( 1963) with; In 1963 he worked with John Patton ( Along Came John ). From the mid- 1960s he worked with Grant Green, on the Verve album His Majesty, King Funk he took part, as well as with Richard " Groove" Holmes ( Blues Groove ) and Jimmy McGriff, he also led his own formations. In 1963 he took a first album under his own name for Blue Note Records on: Steppin 'Out! . During this time he also worked on recordings of R & B and jazz vocalists, such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Ashford & Simpson, Angela Bofill, Abbey Lincoln, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne and Shirley Scott.

In June 1966 his album The Caribbean Suite at the Blue Mitchell, Bobby Hutcherson, Everett Barksdale, Albert Dailey, Walter Booker and Mickey Roker was participated; in October followed on RCA album Straight Up. Herbie Hancock and Joe Farrell had then at his RCA album Watch What Happens. Between 1966 and 1974 he recorded more albums for RCA, Muse and Strata - East. Around 1970 he played in the band from Houston Person before he became a member of Jack DeJohnettes Compost; on both recordings of the fusion band he was involved. In the 1980s he played in the Jimmy McGriff Orchestra and accompanied Abbey Lincoln, a few days before his death, in November 1987 with her tribute to Billie Holiday ( Abbey Sings Billie ).

Until then, Vick had also worked with Richard Williams, Les McCann, Nat Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Mercer Ellington, Billy Taylor, Shirley Scott, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Smith and Horace Silver.

Vick had a cameo in the film School Days by Spike Lee; he had also been the soundtrack of the film She's Gotta Have It.

Chris Kelsey called Harold Vick in his biography on Allmusic one of the forgotten legends of the saxophone; it provides Vick with his hard, aggressive, funky sound in a series with Booker Ervin, David Fathead Newman, Wilton Felder and James Clay. Although he had only a few recording sessions under his own name, he stood by his colleagues in high esteem.

Disco Graphical Notes

  • Steppin ' Out ( Blue Note, 1963)
  • The Caribbean Suite ( RCA, 1966)
  • Commitment ( Muse, 1966)
  • Straight Up (RCA, 1966)
  • Do not Look Back ( Strata - East, 1974)
  • After the Dance (Wolf, 1977)
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