Wednesday 10 July 2019

Milt Buckner born 10 July 1915


Milton Brent Buckner (July 10, 1915 – July 27, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and organist, who in the early 1950s popularized the Hammond organ. He pioneered the parallel chords style that influenced Red Garland, George Shearing, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson.

Milton Brent Buckner was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents encouraged him to learn to play piano, but they both died when he was nine years old. Milt and his younger brother were sent to Detroit where they were adopted by members of the Earl Walton band: trombonist John Tobias, drummer George Robinson (Milt) and reed player Fred Kewley (Ted). Buckner studied piano for three years from the age 10, then at 15 began writing arrangements for the band.

While studying at the Detroit Institute of Arts he performed with Mose Burke & the Dixie Whangdoodles and the Harlem Aristocrats. After drummer and bandleader Don Cox hired him in 1932, Buckner began to develop a uniquely percussive technique employing parallel tonal patterns, later referred to as "block chords," a style now associated with Oscar Peterson and George Shearing. During the '30s Buckner also worked in groups led by Jimmy Raschelle, Lanky Bowman, and Howard Bunts.

His first big break came in 1941 when he became Lionel Hampton's staff arranger and assistant director. His predilection for rocking rhythms and boogie-woogie fit nicely with Hamp's approach to entertainment. Buckner worked with Hampton during the years 1941-1948.

Buckner's earliest recordings survive as a set of piano solos etched into Presto transcription acetates cut In 1945 Buckner made records with Wynonie Harris, including Harris' smash hit, "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop." In 1946 he made the first of a series of recordings with a group variously billed as the Beale Street Boys, the Beale Street Gang, and the Hot Shots. Over the next three years Buckner led a series of dates for the Savoy label. In 1949 he made records with a big band for MGM, 
Hampton & Buckner 1951
sat in on an Eddie Condon Floorshow with drummer Buddy Rich and tap-dancer Baby Laurence on NBC TV, and conducted Teddy Stewart's Orchestra behind Dinah Washington on a date for Mercury records.He then returned to Hampton’s band in 1950.

It was around this time that Buckner first switched from piano to organ. He trundled it out again in Houston TX during the spring of 1952 while backing vocalist Sonny Parker with Gladys Hampton's Blue Boys for Peacock records. Milt recorded for the Scooter, Regent and Brunswick labels, and jammed with saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1953 at the bandbox in New York City. He sat piano for the Imperials (with Willie Dixon playing bass) on a Great Lakes session that took place in Detroit during the spring of 1954.


                         Here's "The Beast" from above EP

                            

Milt Buckner was a Capitol recording artist from April 1955 through July 1957. He taped his first Argo LP in New York in December 1959 with guitarist Kenny Burrell and bassist Joe Benjamin. More Argo sessions came together in Chicago in 1960 and 1961, and he had dealings with the Bethlehem label in
Cincinnati in 1962 and 1963. In March 1966 a performance with 
saxophonist Illinois Jacquet was taped live at Lennie's on the turnpike in West Peabody, MA and subsequently released on the Cadet label.

Like many U.S. jazz musicians who struggled at home and did better abroad, Milt Buckner clearly preferred the cultural and vocational climate in Europe. Over the 11 years that remained in his life, he only returned to North America for brief concert and club bookings -- five times to the U.S. and twice to Canada.

Beginning in 1966 with his first Parisian session in the company of Illinois Jacquet and trumpeter Roy Eldridge, Buckner's discography indicates a more stable working environment involving skilled musicians and appreciative audiences. Milt Buckner's final decade of professional activity is mostly measured in recordings issued on the Black & Blue label, with the exception of a few Prestige, Jazz Odyssey and Riff releases.


Buckner's last studio session took place in Paris on July 4, 1977. Three weeks later, on Wednesday July 27, he collapsed and died after setting up his Hammond organ in preparation for a performance with Illinois Jacquet at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. He was 62 years old.

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)

2 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “ROCKIN' WITH MILT (HAMMOND À LA BUCKNER)” go here:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/vj19gw5t60cm641/Milt_Buckner-55-57.rar/file

Disc 1
01 Movin' with Mitch (Buckner) 2:49
02 Lean Baby (May) 5:12
03 Bernie's Tune (Leiber, Miller, Stoller) 2:54
04 Easy to Love (Porter) 2:18
05 Rockin' with Milt (Buckner) 2:58
06 Blues for Me (Turner) 2:49
07 Robbin's Nest (Jacquet, Robbins, Thompson) 5:36
08 Slaughter on 125th Street (Buckner) 2:04
09 Little Miss Maudlin (Buckner) 2:25
10 Take the 'A' Train (Strayhorn) 2:44
11 Hey Now, Zorina! (Gross) 2:17
12 Deep Purple (DeRose, Parish) 2:04
13 Count's Basement (Buckner) 3:08
14 Wild Scene (Buckner) 2:52
15 We'll Be Together Again (Fischer, Laine) 2:26
16 The Late Late Show (Berlin) 3:35
17 The Beast (Cavanaugh) 2:30
Time: 50:16

Disc 2
01 Jumpin' at the Woodside (Basie) 2:29
02 Blue and Sentimental (Basie, David, Livingstone) 2:23
03 Mighty Low (Buckner) 2:52
04 One O'Clock Jump (Basie) 2:40
05 Jumpin' at the Zanzibar (Buckner) 2:25
06 When You Wish Upon a Star (Harline, Washington) 2:34
07 Night Mist (Jamal) 2:16
08 Good Time Express (Handler) 2:40
09 Dinner Date (Cavanaugh, Dexter) 2:23
10 Second Section (Handler) 2:13
11 Lullaby of the Leaves (Petkere, Young) 3:06
12 Easy Come, Easy Go Lover (Cooper, Upham) 2:39
13 Turquoise (Koki) 2:08
14 Our Engagement Day (Buckner, Buckner) 2:25
15 Let Me Love You (Howard) 2:21
16 When Sunny Gets Blue (Fisher, Segal) 2:57
17 All or Nothing at All (Altman, Lawrence) 2:35
18 You're My Girl (Cahn, Styne) 3:11
19 Someone Else's Love (Berlin) 2:54
20 Irresistible You (DePaul, Raye) 2:09
21 Idle Gossip (Huddleson, Meyer) 2:39
22 You Are My Love (Bass) 2:07

In 1952 Milt formed an excellent trio in which, besides using the piano, he also used a Hammond organ, and was one of the pioneers in the field of rhythm and blues. His powerful interpretations, always full of extraordinary swing, his fruitful imagination, and his tasty sense of humour, made him one of the greatest organists in jazz. These two CDs assemble, for the first time, all the tracks Milt Buckner recorded under his own name and released with Capitol between 1955 and 1957.

#1.01: New York, April 17, 1955. #1.06 to 1.10: New York, April 24, 1955. #1.02 to 1.05: New York, April 18, 1955. #1.11 to 1.13: New York, February 22, 1956. #1.15 to 1.17: New York, February 29, 1956. #2.01 to 2.03: New York, March 12, 1956. #2.04 to 2.06: New York, March 15, 1956. #2.07 to 2.10: New York, September 19, 1956. #2.11 to 2.16: New York, July 24, 1957. #2.17 to 2.22: New York, July 17, 1957.

Milt Buckner (org, overdubbed piano), Earl Warren (as), Sam Taylor (ts), Danny Turner (as, ts), Everett Barksdale, Mickey Baker, Skeeter Best, Dick Gacia (g), Wendell Mashall, Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson, Shadow Wilson (d)

A very big thank you to Egroj @ Egroj World Blog for original post.

egroj.jazz said...

great musician !
saludos!