Charles Compo

Charles Compo is a contemporary American composer, flutist, saxophonist and guitarist.

Charles Compo, Bi Coastal Music, 2009

Family And Early Life

Charles Compo was born in 1958 in Jamaica, Queens to jazz violinist Peter Compo and Broadway actress Faith Daltry Compo. He grew up surrounded by music in Ossining NY.

His father recorded and performed with jazz artists like Zoot Sims, Duke Jordon and Lionel Hampton and his mother was part of the original cast of Plain and Fancy on Broadway. His grandfather, Joseph Daltry, founded the music department at Wesleyan University and his grandmother, Faith Merriman, was a soprano with the San Francisco Opera under the direction of Gaetano Merola.

He studied music at his father's school, Compo Conservatory. At the age of 16 Compo began playing in and around New York City with funk bands, club bands, and touring oldies acts including The Ink Spots and The Platters.

Professional career

In 1976 he moved to New York City, where he met Harry Smith. Compo composed music for Smith's Film Number 21, as well as for live presentations of Smith’s animations at the Film Makers Collective and Anthology Film Archives. In 1983 Smith introduced Compo to Moses Asch, who signed him to Folkways Records. The Smithsonian/Folkways released Compo's ''Seven Flute Solos in 1987. Compo worked briefly as an assistant to Andy Warhol in 1985 before Warhol's death and later, from 1986-1990, he worked as assistant to songwriter Ritchie Cordell.

In 1991, he appeared in a number of shows in and around New York City under the stage name Chuck Tempo, including Axel Rhodes in the Off Broadway production of Return to the Forbidden Planet. He also played Fast Eddie in the NBC daytime drama Another World. In 1992, Twyla Tharp commissioned Compo to compose Touch Dance. During this time, Compo also recorded, wrote, and performed on commercial projects for companies such as Hitachi, New York Lotto, ESPN, and Johnson and Johnson.

Compo studied composition and arranging with Don Sebesky and has performed and recorded with jazz artists Curtis Fowlkes, Sahib Shihab, and Roy Campbell Jr., William Hooker, and Ted Daniel. Compo also collaborated with notable hardcore producer Don Fury on the album Doctor Phibe's Portable Darkness. In addition to his consistent work with respected jazz artists, Compo has also supported and performed with pop artists such as Christina Aguilera, Martha Reeves, Bo Diddley, and Julee Cruise.

Discography

• Seven Flute Solos, Charles Compo, Smithsonian Folkways FW37463 1983
• Lifeline, William Hooker Quartet, Silkheart Records 1994
• The Firmament/Fury, William Hooker Ensemble, Silkheart Records 1994
• Armageddon, William Hooker Ensemble, Homestead Records 1995
• Radiation, William Hooker Ensemble, Homestead Records 1995
• Great Sunset, William Hooker, Warm-O-Brisk Records 1996
• Tibet, William Hooker Quartet, Table of Elements 1996
• The Distance Between Us, William Hooker, Knitting Factory Records 1998
• Seventh Moon, Charles Compo, Star Records STR9911 2000
• Psycho Jammy, Charles Compo, Lakehouse Records 121502LHR 2003
• Doctor Phibes, Portable Darkness, with Don Fury, Playhouse Ventures 2005
• Soothing Music of the Savage Beast, The Phibes, Lakeside Records 2007
• The Phibes, Lakeside Music 2009
• Mind Frame, Patrick Henry Music 2010
• Hennen, Bakr and Compo, Piano Magic 1997
• Foolish Pleasure, Charles Compo, Chaos Music Company 2012
• The Dream Logic LP, The Dream Logic, Chaos Music Company 2013

References

1. Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian Folkways (Published by Collins/Harper Collins Publishers)
2. Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
3. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, Oxford University Press, Lenord Feather and Ira Gitler
4. All About Jazz
5. Broadway World
6. Think of the Self Speaking: Harry Smith, Selected Interviews. Selattle: Elbow/Cityfull Press.
7. Special Collections and Archives, Olin Library, Wesleyan University