Hugh Masekela (April 4, 1939 — Jan. 23, 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer, composer, and bandleader from Witbank, Mpumalanga. His recordings joined South African song forms with jazz, soul, and electronic production across six decades. The Philemon Hou instrumental “Grazing in the Grass” became a U.S. No. 1 single. Background Hugh […]
Eddie Henderson (born Oct. 26, 1940) is an American trumpeter, cornetist, and composer who emerged in Herbie Hancock‘s backing band Mwandishi. On Capricorn, he released the popular 1973/74 albums Realization and Inside Out. Switching to Blue Note, he made the 1975/76 albums Sunburst and Heritage, followed by a trio of titles on Capitol, including the […]
Dizzy Gillespie (Oct. 21, 1917 — Jan. 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and singer from Cheraw, South Carolina. He emerged in Swing-era orchestras led by Teddy Hill and Cab Calloway. By 1945, Gillespie worked with Charlie Parker on foundational bebop recordings and formed groups under his own name. Gillespie brought Afro-Cuban […]
Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American post-bop/jazz-funk trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and bandleader born in Urbana, Ill., and raised in Los Altos, Calif. After spells with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Azteca, he spent 1973–77 with Horace Silver and 1983–89 with Phil Woods, with intervening work for Bill Evans, Lee Konitz, and Charlie […]
Frank Walton is an American jazz-funk trumpeter and flugelhorn player who released the 1978 album Reality on Delmark Records. Background Frank Walter Walton was born June 24, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama. He began trumpet lessons at age eleven at Lincoln Elementary School under band director Frank Adams and later studied privately with trumpeter Amos Gordon. […]
Manfred Schoof (born April 6, 1936) is a German trumpeter and bandleader with over 200 album credits since the late 1950s. In 1969, he soared to international prominence with the FMP free-jazz release European Echoes. Background Manfred Schoof was born April 6, 1936, in Magdeburg, Germany. His parents recognized and encouraged his musical ability, although […]
Charles Sullivan — aka Kamau Muata Adilifu (born Nov. 8, 1944) — is an American post-bop/jazz-funk trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and bandleader from N.Y.C. He worked with McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Carlos Garnett, then opened his leader catalog with the 1974 Strata-East album Genesis. Sullivan followed with Re-Entry and Kamau, while later […]
Kenny Wheeler (Jan. 14, 1930 — Sept. 18, 2014) was a Canadian-born composer, trumpeter, and flugelhornist, active on the U.K. jazz scene for five decades. Between 1963 and 1975, he played on albums by Georgie Fame, John Surman, Tony Oxley, Tubby Hayes, Michael Gibbs, Alan Skidmore, Bob Downes, Norma Winstone, Anthony Reebop Kwaku Baah, Mike […]
Heikki Koskinen — aka Mike Koskinen — is a Finnish trumpeter, composer, and bandleader active in the Finnish jazz scene since the late Sixties. He recorded with Soulset, Eero Koivistoinen, Seppo Paakkunainen, and led his own ensembles for Yleisradio broadcasts in the early Seventies. As a bandleader, Koskinen recorded the 1976 album Sunwebs for Love […]
Enrico Rava (born Aug. 20, 1939) is an Italian trumpeter, composer, and bandleader with more than 300 album credits since the early Sixties. Rava played beside Gato Barbieri, Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd, Carla Bley, Lee Konitz, and Giorgio Azzolini. In 1970, he cut an album with American brass-rockers Gas Mask. Rava debuted as a bandleader […]
Ted Curson (June 3, 1935 — Nov. 4, 2012) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk trumpeter, composer, and bandleader from Philadelphia. Curson played with Cecil Taylor and Charles Mingus, then co-led a quintet with tenor saxophonist Bill Barron through the mid-Sixties. His leader catalog stretched from Plenty of Horn and Tears for Dolphy through Atlantic, Arista, and Inner […]
Marvin “Hannibal” Peterson (born Nov. 11, 1948) is an American trumpeter and composer from Smithville, Tex. He established his early-1970s career through work with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Gil Evans, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Pharoah Sanders, then led the Sunrise Orchestra on Children of the Fire, Hannibal, In Antibes, and Naima. Under the name Hannibal […]
Luis Gasca (born March 23, 1940) is an American Latin/spiritual-jazz trumpeter and fluegelhorn player from Houston. He played with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Mongo Santamaría, Santana, and Malo across the 1960s and 1970s. As a leader, Gasca made the 1968–74 albums Little Giant, For Those Who Chant, Born to Love You, and Collage. Background Luis […]
Tom Browne (born Oct. 30, 1954) is an American jazz-funk trumpeter from Queens. He emerged behind Sonny Fortune and made his bandleader debut with the 1979 GRP release Browne Sugar. His 1980 single “Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.)” topped the Billboard R&B chart and reached No. 10 in the U.K.; Browne followed with “Thighs High (Grip […]
