Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws ( born November 10, 1939 in Houston ) is an American flutist of modern jazz and classical music. In the early 1970s, he has received several awards in the polls of Down Beat as a leading jazz flautist.
Life and work
Laws was one of eight children and grew up in a musical environment ( the grandfather was a harmonica player / entertainer, the mother gospel pianist ). He started with piano and alto saxophone and flute learned in high school. From 1954 to 1960 he was a member of the Jazz Crusaders, which he founded with Joe Sample and a few other friends and with whom he moved to Los Angeles in 1958. On the first LP of the Jazz Crusaders, he can be heard, but then went their own ways. He has already played in Texas classical music after studying at Texas Southern University, about the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Houston to private lessons with the flutist Clement Barone. From 1960 to 1964 he continued his studies with a scholarship at the Julliard School in New York City in the classical flutist Julius Baker continued. Since the scholarship was not sufficient for subsistence, he also worked as a flutist, approximately in the Sugar Ray Lounge in Harlem. Between 1964 and 1966 he made his own first recordings ( for Atlantic ); He also played, among others with Pucho Brown, Mongo Santamaría (1963 ), Sergio Mendes (1965 ), Tanglewood (summer Festival of the Boston Symphony Orchestra ), John Lewis, Gil Evans, Lloyd Prince Big Band, Clark Terry, Benny Golson and James Moody. Since 1969, he recorded a number of albums that appeared on CTI Records. He edited works by Fauré, Stravinsky, Debussy and Bach for his album Rite of Spring. On later albums followed adaptations of Bizet, Satie or Rimsky-Korsakov. With Roland Hanna, Ron Carter and Billy Cobham he belonged until 1974 to the New York Jazz Quartet.
Since 1969, he was temporarily employed at the New York Metropolitan Opera as principal flutist; later he appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. As a classical flutist, he also played more with numerous other orchestras (eg, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Dallas, Amsterdam, Japan, Detroit ). Other collaborations were there with George Benson, Deodato, Weather Report, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, Quincy Jones and the Modern Jazz Quartet and with Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Sarah Vaughan, Roberta Flack, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon. He taught at the California Institute of the Arts. In 1982, he joined with the Modern Jazz Quartet at the Hollywood Bowl. He also appeared with the French flutist Jean -Pierre Rampal. His albums appear in part on their own label, founded in 1976, the Hulaws Music and Golden Flute Music.
With remarkable versatility he moves both in the jazz, classical music, rhythm and blues, as well as in popular music.
On some of his records and his sister Debra Laws can be heard as a singer. Another sister Eloise Laws is also a well-known singer and Broadway actress. His brother Ronnie Laws ( born 1950 ) is tenor saxophonist.
Laws also worked on film scores, as with Quincy Jones in California Suite by Neil Simon from 1978 (directed by Herbert Ross) and for the film Color Purple by Steven Spielberg in 1985.
Recordings (selection)
- The Laws of Jazz, 1964, Atlantic
- Flute by Laws 1965, Atlantic
- Laws Cause 1969 Atlantic
- African Classic, 1970, CTI
- The Rite of Spring, 1971, with Bob James, Ron Carter, Airto and Jack DeJohnette
- The Chicago Theme, 1975, CTI
- The San Francisco Concert, 1977, CTI
- Romeo and Juliet, Columbia 1977
- Say it with Silence 1978
- Land of Passion 1979
- Family 1980 ( with Eloise, Debra and Ronnie Laws )
- New Earth Sonata ( with Quincy Jones, Chick Corea, Harold Blanchard, 1983)
- Word of Mouth ( with Jaco Pastorius )
- Amazing Grace ( classical music, but with Quincy Jones on the podium and Chick Corea ), 1990
- Hubert Laws Plays Bach for Barone and Baker ( the namesakes of his flute teacher)
- My Time Will Come, 1990
- Storm Then the Calm, 1994
- Hubert Laws Remembers the Unforgettable Nat King Cole, 1998
- Baila Cinderella, 2002
- Moondance, 2004