Red Rodney
Red Rodney's comeback in the late '70s was quite inspiring and found the veteran bebop trumpeter playing even better than he had during his legendary period with Charlie Parker. He started his professional career by performing with Jerry Wald's orchestra when he was 15, and he passed through a lot of big bands, including those of Jimmy Dorsey (during which Rodney closely emulated his early idol Harry James), Elliot Lawrence, Georgie Auld, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown. He totally changed his style after hearing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, becoming one of the brighter young voices in bebop. Rodney made strong contributions to the bands of Gene Krupa (1946), Claude Thornhill, and Woody Herman's Second Herd (1948-1949). Off and on during 1949-1951, Rodney was a regular member of the Charlie Parker Quintet, playing brilliantly at Bird's recorded Carnegie Hall concert of 1949. But drugs cut short that association, and Rodney spent most of the 1950s in and out of jail. After he kicked heroin, almost as damaging to his jazz chops was a long period playing for shows in Las Vegas. When he returned to New York in 1972, it took Rodney several years to regain his former form. However, he hooked up with multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan in 1980 and the musical partnership benefited both of the veterans; Sullivan's inquisitive style inspired Rodney to play post-bop music (rather than continually stick to bop) and sometimes their quintet (which also featured Garry Dial) sounded like the Ornette Coleman Quartet, amazingly. After Sullivan went back to Florida a few years later, Rodney continued leading his own quintet which in later years featured the talented young saxophonist Chris Potter. Red Rodney, who was portrayed quite sympathetically in the Clint Eastwood film Bird (during which he played his own solos), stands as proof that for the most open-minded veterans there is life beyond bop.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
-
Live At The Village Vanguard (Live At The Village Vanguard / New York, NY / 1980)
Jazz - Released by Savoy on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
One for Bird (Live)
Jazz - Released by SteepleChase on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Borrowed Time
Jazz - Released by Fresh Sound Records on 11 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
-
Essential Jazz Quintets
Bebop - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Feb 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Red Rodney: The Red Rodney Quintets / Fiery
Jazz - Released by Blue Velvet on 19 May 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Society Red (feat. Bent Jædig)
Jazz - Released by Music Mecca on 29 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Modern Music from Chicago
Bebop - Released by Music Manager on 10 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Woody’s Boys Vol. 3 (1945-49)
Neal Hefti, Red Rodney, Chubby Jackson
Jazz - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Titanium Hits
Pop - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 7 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Box 2000 / Stella by Starlight (All Tracks Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Hit Singles Records on 24 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo