Tommy Flanagan

Thomas " Tommy" Lee Flanagan ( born March 16, 1930 in Detroit, † 16 November 2001 in New York City ) was an American jazz pianist of the swing.

Life and work

His parents were avid jazz fans and promoted by Tommy's musicianship clarinet lessons at the age of six; as a 11- year-old, he moved to the piano. In 1945, he attended a concert of Art Tatum, which he finally realized his desire to be a jazz pianist. In the same year had Tommy Flanagan - with only 15 - his first professional appearance in the ensemble of Dexter Gordon. He then worked with local groups in Detroit, among others, with Lucky Thompson, Rudy Rutherford and Billy Mitchell. After time in the Army ( 1951-53 ), he played with Kenny Burrell and came to New York.

His debut in New York succeeded in 1956, when he stepped in for the ailing Bud Powell. His playing impressed Miles Davis so much that he invited him to his next recording session ( Collectors' Items). He also collaborated with Oscar Pettiford. Over the next 20 years, Flanagan came to many, now recognized as a classic recordings. First shots were taken in March 1956 under the direction of Kenny Burrell; in August 1957, he took in Stockholm with his trio of Wilbur Little Elvin Jones and the first time under his own name. In sessions with Curtis Fuller ( Blues -ette, 1959), Dexter Gordon, Gigi Gryce, Coleman Hawkins ( Today and Now, 1962), Freddie Hubbard and Wilbur Harden extend its participation in Sonny Rollins ' Saxophone Colossus (1956 ), Giant Steps ( 1959) produced by John Coltrane and The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery.

As a piano accompanist of Ella Fitzgerald Tommy Flanagan acted in two prolonged periods 1962-1965 and 1968-1978, and in between he worked for Tony Bennett and appeared on the Impulse! Session of Roy Haynes (Out of the Afternoon ) with. 1978, after recovering from a heart attack, Flanagan limited his field on his own trio, but also looked more at Joe Henderson's last album Porgy and Bess (1997) with. A larger circle was known among other things, Let's from 1993. In the same year he was awarded the highly doped Jazzpar Prize.

His piano style was heavily influenced by Al Haig and Hank Jones.