Charles Tolliver

Charles Tolliver is an American jazz trumpeter and composer whose landmark Strata-East quartet recordings added to the improvisational and compositional language of trumpet quartet jazz.

Charles Tolliver
Charles Tolliver at The Town Hall in 2009
Background information
BornJacksonville, Florida, US
OriginNew York City
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsTrumpet
Years active1960s–present
LabelsStrata-East
Websitecharlestolliver.com

Biography

Tolliver was born in Jacksonville, Florida and grew up in New York City. During his childhood, his grandmother gave him his first horn, a cornet he had coveted.[1] Tolliver attended Howard University in the early 1960s as a pharmacy major, when he decided to pursue music as a career and return home to New York City. He came to prominence in 1964, playing and recording on Jackie McLean's Blue Note albums. Since then he has become one of the all time preeminent trumpeters in jazz as well as one of its most gifted composer/arranger bandleaders. In 1971, Tolliver and Stanley Cowell founded Strata-East Records, one of the pioneer artist-owned jazz record labels. Tolliver himself released many albums and collaborations on Strata-East.[2] Following a long hiatus, he reemerged in the late 2000s, releasing two albums arranged for big band, "With Love" and "Emperor March". With Love was nominated in 2007 for a Grammy award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble.[3]

He would later describe his experience: "There was so much going on with the music. Like with bebop, we had a long period of just salivating on. There were all these different idioms within a genre, the avant-garde and free music, bebop still, and of course the music of John Coltrane and Miles. It was just a hell of a period. And then there was also the political scene going on...."[4]

Discography

As leader

As a sideman

With Roy Ayers

With Gary Bartz

With Booker Ervin

With Louis Hayes

With Andrew Hill

With Jackie McLean

With Oliver Nelson

With Max Roach

With Horace Silver

With McCoy Tyner

With Gerald Wilson

References
  1. May, Chris (July 21, 2020). "Charles Tolliver: Blowing Down The Walls Of Trump's Jericho". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  2. Allmusic biography
  3. With Love review
  4. Interview, Laurence Donohue-Greene, All About Jazz Online.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.