Robert Irving III

Robert " Baabe " Irving III ( born October 27, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois ) is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, composer and arranger. He leads his own bands and works as a producer. He was largely responsible for the development of the sound of the late Miles Davis in the 1980s and 1990s.

Life

Irving's musical career began as a blower. His first instrument was the natural trumpet Clairon, followed by a series of wind instruments, including the cornet, French horn and valve trombone. While playing wind instruments, he also learned to play keyboard instruments to improve his musical theory knowledge.

Irving's family moved from 1969 to 1978 in North Carolina. There, Irving continued to pursue his musical studies, playing trombone in concert band, keyboard for pop, funk and fusion bands, as well as organ and piano for gospel groups. Hammond organ and keyboards were now his main instruments.

When he returned in 1978 to Chicago, to Irving teamed up with a number of musicians, including Vincent Wilburn Jr. and Darryl Jones, the Miles Davis band joined him later. These musicians formed a series of bands including Data and AL7. 1979 AL7 was invited by arranger and producer Tom Tom 84 to make demo recordings for Maurice White (of Earth Wind and Fire ).

Irving met in 1981 to Miles Davis. The long and formative time with Miles Davis (up to 1988) was an Irving almost completely trained acoustic jazz pianist, as can be noted in his recent work.

Collaboration with Miles Davis

Miles was on Irving by his recording space (which he had taken with his talented Chicago-based band for Vince Wilburns uncle) became aware. This meant that Miles Davis invited him and his musicians to New York at his first recording session for years. In fact, it turned out that Irving's music gave the impetus and motivation to get Davis 1974-1979 eingeschlafene ( 1974-79 ) 1979-1991 to take his musical development in the last phase of his career.

Some results of these meetings are included on the album The Man with the Horn of 1981, the comeback album of Davis. The title track The Man With the Horn was written and arranged, co-wrote on the other piece of Shout and arranged by Irving. 1983 Miles Davis asked whether Irving wanted to work as a composer, keyboardist, arranger and co-producer for the recording sessions, from which the album was created decoy. He invited Irving also, to join his touring band, where he remained for five years, and he took over there next to the piano, the role of the musical director. Thus, Irving was responsible for the musical arrangements, samples (in which Davis never participated ) and the musical interplay between Davis and his band members, including musicians such as John Scofield, Bill Evans, Mike Stern, Kenny Garrett and Darryl Jones. As musical director to Irving heard the recordings to any evening to pick up from the ideas that were an integral part in the arrangements of the band.

In 1982, Robert Irving also for the Kuumba theater production The Little Dreamer ... A Nite in the Life of Bessie Smith the duties of musical director and pianist while getting to stride piano from the legendary Little Brother Montgomery, who had composed the music of the show.

In addition, besides Decoy Irving worked as a composer, producer and arranger on the 1985 recording You're Under Arrest. This album included the Grammy -nominated version of Time After Time and the piece of Human Nature. While Irving was at work on You're Under Arrest, he studied with Gil Evans arrangement of decades earlier had arranged some of his most famous pieces for Miles Davis. Later Irving and Miles extended their collaboration on projects such as the music for the film Street Smart.

Career by Miles

Irving left Miles Davis ' band in 1988 and began to pursue his own musical career. At the time of separation his musical mentor gave him one last piece of advice he would share with him along the way: "Music is a painting that you can hear and painting is music that you can see. It is time that you work on your own images. "

1988 Irving published his solo album, Midnight Dream, for the Verve Forecast / Polygram Records label. Then John Scofield, Darryl Jones, Buddy Williams and Phil Perry played with. Irving worked in the 1990s rather inconspicuous with other labels such as DIW in Japan and Europe, which are barely noticed in the United States because of the short-run, while the follow- musicians of the Davis band since 1985 there diligently marketed (Marcus Miller).

Since he had left the Davis band Irving lives in Chicago, pursued a successful career as a touring musician, composer, arranger, producer and teacher. In the jazz scene in Chicago Irving has taught at numerous schools, workshops and community events, and he founded the Chicago 's African Arts Ensemble. Irving composed the film score for Gregory Tillman Jr. ' s feature film Scenes for the Soul from 1995, as well as for the Miami Chamber Orchestra with Mademoiselle Mandarin is a concerto for jazz harp and orchestra, which was premiered with the Swiss musician Markus Klinko. He took them through the years, either as leader of his own bands or sideman with a long list of well-known jazz musicians, among others, he worked with David Murray, Wallace Roney, Eddie Henderson, Lenny White and colleagues from Davis - days Darryl Jones, Vince Wilburn Jr. and Al Foster; well even with Ramsey Lewis, Randy Hall, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gary Bartz, Buster Williams, Regina Carter and Kirk Whalum. He worked as a composer, arranger and pianist.

In addition, at Davis ' urging, Irving started painting. He paints regularly since 1997 and his work has been exhibited in several galleries.

Next took Irving as a conductor and music director of the band of former Miles Davis musicians and ESP ESP2, played on a series of David Murray's albums and tours, as a member of Kahil El'Zabars Juba Collective and Wallace Roney with. Among other things, he produced albums for Terri Lyne Carrington (Real Life Story, 1990) and Susan Osborne ( Wabi 1991, received the Nippon Music Award for the best creative concept ).

2007 is on the label Sonic Portraits with New Momentum a recent trio album before, on the Irving plays acoustic piano.

His playing style

Its function as a companion he met restrained and structuring, no matter how " electric" or wiry his keyboard sounds. In the restraint he is so not easy to hear the Miles Davis albums from the overall sound and it is scarce solos. It can build up music "monumental", which he uses easy to dissolve again with his rhythmically clean demarcating tempo changes. With equal ease to force he can play in gospel ways of playing. On acoustic piano, he has a full sound, he plays in Oktavabständen with full chords on the keyboards, he sounds more wiry spotted with rudimentary hints, he sets the tone, and stays with simple chords. Complicated " jazz chords " he moved in progressions over longer intervals, simpler "Gospel triads " he changes rhythmically percussive between right and left hand.

Selected Discography

Miles Davis:

• Miles Davis You're Under Arrest ( Grammy Award Nominee ) 1985 - Composer, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
• Miles Davis Decoy ( Downbeat Album of the Year ) - Composer, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
• Miles Davis, The Man With the Horn 1981 - Composer, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer

Under his own name and with Miles Davis sequel:

• Robert Irving III, Midnight Dream 1989 - Composer, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
• Robert Irving III, New Momentum (Sonic Portraits Entertainment) 2007 - bandleader, piano, composer, arranger and producer ( with Terri Lyne Carrington )
• ESP, ESP ( Robert Irving III, Darryl Jones, Bobby Broom, Kirk Whalum, Toby Williams) 1992 - Composer, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer

As a sideman:

• Juba Collective ( Khalil El'Zabar ), Juba Collective 2002 - Piano ( Hammond ) Organ, Keyboards
• Wallace Roney, Village 1997 - Keyboards
• David Murray, Fo Deuk Revue, enja 1997 - piano, composer
• David Murray, Dark Star ( No. 1 on the Billboard charts ) 1996 - organ, piano, synthesizers
• David Murray, Jug -a -Lug, DIW 1995 - Organ, Synthesizer.
• David Murray, The Tip 1994 - Organ, Synthesizer

( Be noted by "-" are Irving's functions. )