Jazz mann biography

Byhe was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer, and the disease finally took his life on July 1, Herbie Mann's career does not lend itself to easy characterization. At the same time, though, his recorded work speaks volumes about his ability to merge widely-varying forms into a coherent and appealing style that was accessible to the average listener.

Mann could also be described as one of the first "world" musicians; his sensitivity for non-Western musical forms, evidenced by his ability to integrate them into work that could be easily appreciated by a largely Western audience while still retaining the essential characteristics of its origin, has few parallels among the other musicians of his generation.

When I asked him in this interview where music in general was heading, he talked about a broad mix--"an amalgamation of everything"--which might be a good way to describe Mann's overall career, except that it doesn't account for his own personal, exuberant voice. It's not Herbie Mann and Phil Woods met when they were two barely adult beboppers jamming together at a joint called Tony's Bar on Flatbush Ave.

They finally shared the front line on an album again with this CD, the last Mann made before he died on July 2, Beyond Brooklyn is a fine envoi to Mann's career, featuring the flutist in many of For the past 40 years, flutist Herbie Mann has taken the instrument in several different directions, performing in a wide variety of musical styles including straight-ahead and soul and pop-jazz, as well as world music, and most recently Eastern European music.

A cancer survivor, Mann's latest project is a crusade for prostate cancer awareness. Herbie Mann: My wife and I just reached that point Flautists are the 98 pound weaklings in the jazz musician crowd, constantly working hard to prove that their chosen instrument has serious jazz credentials. Herbie Mann and Bobby Jaspar were two of the few who made the flute their primary instrument, and both had their moments, Mann as a leader and Jaspar with JJ Johnson.

However, Flute Flight, a pairing of the two originally recorded innever gets off the ground. Before this recording Mann had been successful at Concept albums were all the rage back in the late Fifties, and jazz music was no exception among genres. Popular within this certain niche was the notion of featuring instruments uncommonly featured in lead roles.

The result was a flood of records fielded by everything from French horns to accordions to harps. One album cut for the Savoy label featured four of the former instruments in a winsome frontline combination. The modest flute might not seem like such an oddity There's no use denying it, so I'll confess: I am not a big jazz flute fan.

The instrument has always seemed to me to be too slight to power a rhythm section and too breathy to maintain an individual attractiveness. But Herbie Mann and Sam Most have jazz mann biography me on this unlikeliest of ensembles, a double flute quintet. The Herbie Mann-Sam Most Quintet is a album of eleven genial, high-spirited tracks featuring Mann and Most trading bright, up-tempo, Herbie Mann was a fascinating artist.

Not only was he a masterful jazz flutist but he also crossed over to Latin, funk, soul, bossa nova and rock and pioneered world music. His curiosity and ability to adapt to various styles was almost unrivaled during the s and '70s. Recorded in for Columbia, the album featured Oliver Nelson's Latin-jazz arrangement of Manteca, which was co-composed by Bythe West Coast jazz scene was firmly established and its musicians were working regularly in Los Angeles' many recording studios.

The best ones worked relentlessly cranking out inch LPs. The same was true of New York's jazz scene, where improvisers found themselves in strong demand by leading labels such as Blue Note, Prestige, Savoy and Riverside. That year, six of the finest New York players appeared on Yardbird Suite, an extraordinary album led by flutist Herbie Mann.

Two of the finest jazz flutists in New York in the mids were united by producer Creed Taylor when he was at Bethlehem Records. Love him or hate him, flutist Herbie Mann was in the groove and on top of just about every major music trend between mid s and the s and paved the way for World Music in the '60s. Admittedly, not all of his albums were great, but he did have a knack for being in the right place at the right time to catch a wave.

Here are 10 Herbie Mann tracks through a wide range of music genres: Here's Herbie Mann was a fascinating jazz figure. The flutist and saxophonist was a dominant player in the s, recording prolifically as a leader and sideman, and always bringing tremendous swing and lyricism to his work. Both of Mann's parents were dancers, so his keen sense of time makes perfect sense.

Tall and lean, he became the prototype for beat-generation beboppers, coffee-house bongo players, the folk-jazz hipsters and Greenwich Village VW-driving daddy-o's. Mann also had a eye and ear for the In addition, the touring band of State Source: All About Jazz November 11, Source: All About Jazz November 10, Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet including bass clarinetbut Mann was among the first jazz musicians to specialize on the flute.

His most popular single was "Hijack", which was a Billboard No. Mann emphasized the groove approach in his music. Mann felt that from his repertoire, the "epitome of a groove record" was Memphis Underground or Push Pushbecause the "rhythm section jazz mann biography all in one perception. Both of his parents were dancers and singers, as well as dance instructors later in life.

His first professional performance was playing the Catskills resorts at age Mann recorded a number of pop and smooth jazz albums in the s, which were influenced by Southern soul, blues rock, reggae, funk and disco. These brought some criticism from jazz purists, but this fusion of genres provided a musical outlet for his career at a time when interest in jazz was waning.

In this second interview with Les Tomkins, Herbie Mann discusses where he has performed and how he was influenced by Brazilian music. During the last few months we have switched from a percussive Afro approach to that of a marked South American nature. You see, Brazilian music has shown me that music in general can still remain exciting and dramatic without having an overabundance of drums.

In other words, the rhythm can be implied, rather than made obvious. We now have a more subtle approach, playing more straight jazz and bossa novas than anything else. Sometime ago I spoke rather sharply about the many inferior and unsympathetic bossa nova recordings. I have changed my opinions slightly. In all honesty I think that our own group gets closer to the original than anyone else for a number of reasons.

Jazz mann biography

I believe that my own temperament is closer to that of the Brazilians than any American musicians who have entered this particular field. Moreover, the group has had more opportunities of hearing and playing new Brazilian compositions, and my guitarist, Attila Zoller, learned how to play bossa nova and other rhythms from listening to the recordings of guitarist Baden Powell.

I consider Powell to be the finest exponent in the world of authentic contemporary Brazilian music. I feel that the sessions I cut in Rio are the best examples of the bossa nova and the progressive samba on disc. As far as I am concerned, the bossa nova is a modern samba. And do they swing! Unfortunately, many American percussionists stick to repetitious patterns, making for stodgy and uninspired results.

During the first week I was in Rio I listened to well over 75 compositions.