James Black
Though he's little known outside of New Orleans and never recorded an album under his own name, drummer James Black was a Crescent City legend capable of performing everything from complex modernist jazz to gritty funk. An accomplished composer as well, Black had a reputation for being an irascible bandleader, intimidating with his personality just as much as his skill. Born in New Orleans on February 1, 1940, Black soaked up the city's trademark "second line" rhythms from a young age, and by the early '60s was already doing session work for the likes of Fats Domino. His main interest was jazz, however, and he played in a group with the young Ellis Marsalis on piano and Nat Perrilliat on sax. Nat Adderley (along with brother Cannonball) used all three on his 1962 session In the Bag, to which Black contributed two compositions. The following year, Marsalis cut an underrated album of modern jazz called Monkey Puzzle; this time out Black handled four of the seven compositions, including the intricate 5/4 piece "Magnolia Triangle," which ranks as perhaps his greatest work. Black went on to play with Yusef Lateef and Lionel Hampton in the mid-'60s, although his career was interrupted by a stint in the Angola State Penitentiary (during which time he actually played in a prison band with blues pianist James Booker and saxophonist Charles Neville).
In the late '60s, Black paid the bills with R&B gigs around New Orleans, and in 1968 caught on at the Scram label as a house drummer. He played on Eddie Bo's "Hook and Sling," helping to make it one of the great New Orleans funk singles, and soon took his place alongside Smokey Johnson and the Meters' Ziggy Modeliste as one of the city's top funky drummers. Meanwhile, he continued to play jazz on the side as part of Ellis Marsalis' band ELM Music Company; they took up residency at Lu and Charlie's beginning in 1972 and became local favorites. During the '70s, Black also led his own group, the James Black Ensemble, which often featured his longtime girlfriend "Sister Mary" Bonette on vocals. He attempted several times to record a full-length album, including once for the Sound of New Orleans label and another time at Allen Toussaint's studio, but the sessions never progressed beyond a few tracks. Black continued performing in New Orleans into the '80s, still playing with Ellis Marsalis (as well as Marsalis' then-teenage pupil, Harry Connick Jr.); he also served as the drummer for the 1982 Marsalis Family album Fathers and Sons. Black died of a drug overdose on August 30, 1988.
In 2002, the Night Train label assembled a compilation of mostly unreleased tracks, many from Black's aborted LP sessions; I Need Altitude: Rare and Unreleased New Orleans Jazz and Funk, 1968-1978 ran the gamut from heavy funk and psychedelic soul to soul-jazz, and featured several of the drummer's own vocals. In the spring of 2003, Ellis and Wynton Marsalis presented a program of Black compositions as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center series.
© Steve Huey /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
-
This Time
Soul - Lançado por La Chapelle Records em 12 de jul. de 2017
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
(I Need) Altitude
Funk - Lançado por Night Train International em 1 de jan. de 2002
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music Is Not Always Participatory
James Black, Bára Gísladóttir, Connor Mclean
Electronic - Lançado por Dacapo em 29 de jan. de 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Live at N9 Eeklo Belgium (Live at N9, Eeklo, Belgium, 2012) (Live)
Soul - Lançado por Brixton Records em 1 de jun. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baddie
Hip-Hop/Rap - Lançado por Oodleville Records em 16 de mar. de 2024
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Just Wanna
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por James Black em 5 de out. de 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Moon Boot Cocoon
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por N - A em 3 de dez. de 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love Flows Like a River
Soul - Lançado por Junkyard Soul em 1 de jun. de 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
-
Dancin Round the Room
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por James Black em 9 de fev. de 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Something's Happening
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por James Black em 26 de jan. de 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
No Supremacy (feat. Michee)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Lançado por 2400473 Records DK em 18 de set. de 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Like This
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por James Black em 25 de ago. de 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
James Black EP
Techno - Lançado por Transportal Digital em 22 de mai. de 2018
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Be Water, My Love
Soul - Lançado por Junkyard Soul em 31 de ago. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Flying Buttresses
Rock - Lançado por James Black em 24 de jul. de 2021
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falling Off (Original Mix)
Miscellaneous - Lançado por D'Amour Recordings em 6 de fev. de 2018
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Larga o Drip
Hip-Hop/Rap - Lançado por Black james em 15 de jul. de 2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo