James George Hunter (August 19, 1918 – May 28, 1996), known
professionally as Jimmy Rowles, was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, and
composer. As a bandleader and accompanist, he explored various styles including
swing and cool jazz.
Holiday & Rowles |
Rowles settled on the West Coast, and could be called upon
in a pinch to be a steady pair of hands with just the right chords to support a
singer. He was also a gifted composer and in his later years, he even sang. And
never one to shy away from a gig, He joined the “Wrecking Crew” on occasion,
and worked as a session musician for the pop-rock bands The Monkees and The 5th
Dimension.
He worked with just about every singer who spent any time on
the West Coast, but he became closely associated with two singers in
particular: Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday. Rowles was Holiday’s primary pianist
in her later years, and was with her on most of her final albums with the Verve
label in the late 1950s. He recorded several of Lee’s albums for Capitol in the
late 1950s and early 1960s. Rowles had one-off sessions with other prominent singers
from this era as well, including Tony Bennett, Hoagy Carmichael, Ella
Fitzgerald, and Mel Tormé.
In 1965, Rowles teamed up with Tony Bennett to
record the Johnny Mandel song “The Shadow of Your Smile” won the Academy Award
in 1965 for best song. Many versions exist, but Bennett’s version is perhaps
the finest, no doubt elevated by the accompaniment by Rowles.
Singer Mel Tormé worked almost exclusively with pianist Marty
Paich and his Dek-tette throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s. However,
Tormé made a few exceptions, notably with pianist Jimmy Rowles. The two worked
together on a handful of sessions, including the albums Mel Torme Sings Sunday
In New York and The Duke Ellington and Count Basie Songbooks.
Julie London’s 1957 album Julie featured Rowles taking on
the role of conductor and arranger. London was known for her smoky torch songs
around this time, but with arrangements by Rowles underneath her, this album
was jazzier than many of her other releases.
In 1977, Jimmy Rowles’s behind-the-scenes work finally got a
chance to be properly highlighted. Saxophonist Stan Getz had just been given
carte blanche by Columbia Records to produce an album of his choice. And he
took the opportunity to feature Jimmy Rowles, calling his genius quote “the
best kept secret to the public at large since Mona Lisa’s smile.”
The album called The Peacocks was mostly a showcase of his piano
playing, along with Getz’s saxophone. But it also showed off two other sides of
the musician. The first was his songwriting ability. He wrote the album’s
hauntingly beautiful title track, “The Peacocks,” and the album also showed off
Jimmy’s unique voice. He was almost like a gravely-voiced Nat King Cole, if Nat
Cole continued to live (and smoke) well into the 1970s, or if Leonard Cohen
sang jazz standards.
In the 1970s and 80s, Rowles also remained in demand, and
became the dedicated pianist for both Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae as they
navigated these years more or less out of the spotlight. During this period,
McRae praised Rowles as quote “the guy every girl singer in her right mind
would like to work with.” With Sarah Vaughan he performed on several albums.
They even recorded the song “Morning Star,” written by Jimmy Rowles with lyrics
by Johnny Mercer, on their 1974 live album Sarah Vaughan and the Jimmy Rowles
Quartet.
In the 1980s he succeeded Paul Smith as Ella Fitzgerald's
accompanist. He first performed with Fitzgerald at the Mocambo nightclub in
Hollywood in late 1956. He appeared on several recording sessions with her in
the 1960s before joining her for nearly three years in 1981. Rowles appeared on
Fitzgerald's final collaboration with Nelson Riddle, The Best Is Yet to Come in
1982. His song "Baby, Don't You Quit Now", written with Johnny
Mercer, was recorded on her final album All That Jazz, released in 1989.
Rowles died of cardiac arrest May 28, 1996 in Burbank, California,
at the age of 77. He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in
2001.
His daughter, Stacy (September 11, 1955 – October 30, 2009),
was an accomplished jazz trumpeter, singer, and flugelhornist.
(Edited from Wikipedia & an article by Mark Chilla @ Afterglow
)
1 comment:
For “Stan Getz Presents Jimmie Rowles – The Peacocks (1977)” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/10374541/Getz___Rowles_-_The_Peacocks.rar.html
01. I'll Never Be The Same
02. Lester Left Town
03. Body And Soul
04. What Am I Here For?
05. Serenade To Sweden
06. The Chess Players
07. The Peacocks
08. My Buddy
09. The Hour Of Parting
10. Rose Marie
11. This Is All I Ask
12. Skylark
13. Mosaic / Would You Like To Take A Walk
Bass – Buster Williams (tracks: 2, 6, 8, 10, 11)
Drums – Elvin Jones (tracks: 2, 6, 8, 10, 11)
Piano – Jimmy Rowles
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 12)
Vocals – Beverly Getz (tracks: 6), Jon Hendricks (tracks: 6), Judith Hendricks (tracks: 6), Michelle Hendricks (tracks: 6)
Though Stan Getz is credited as the leader of The Peacocks, and his immediately identifiable tenor saxophone is well represented, this session is actually headed by pianist and vocalist Jimmy Rowles, with Getz as producer. It is essentially a series of laid-back duets between Rowles and Getz, or a small amount of quartet recordings complemented by bassist Buster Williams and drummer Elvin Jones. The range of emotion and dynamics presented offers a unique listening experience for anyone not particularly familiar with the veteran Los Angeles based Rowles, supported by a variety of players who fully understand his muse. Not without his own innate sense of style, rhythm, and energy, Rowles is the centerpiece in a stack of standards, music of Duke Ellington, modern jazz compositions, and one original. He has a dry vocal style cum Mose Allison or even Tony Bennett, most evident on "I'll Never Be the Same" or the reserved but heartfelt blues ballad/waltz "My Buddy."
With few Jimmy Rowles recordings in the world, this has to rank as his best, clearly the most entertaining, and a project Getz was ever proud to bring to the jazz world. It is definitive, deserving of the Columbia Jazz Masterpieces tag, and a must-have item in your modern jazz collection. (edited AllMusic review)
A big thank you to muro @ murodoclassicrock4.blog for original post.
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