Muhal richard abrams biography for kids
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Muhal Richard Abrams
American jazz musician and educator (–)
Muhal Richard Abrams | |
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Abrams at Moers Festival, | |
| Birth name | Richard Lewis Abrams |
| Born | ()September 19, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, () (aged&#;87) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Free jazz, post-bop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, clarinet, cello |
| Years active | s– |
| Labels | Delmark, Black Saint, Novus, New World, Pi |
Musical artist
Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, – October 29, ) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium.[1] He recorded and toured the United States, Canada and Europe with his orchestra, sextet, quartet, duo, and as a solo pianist.
Early life
[edit]Abrams's mother, Edna,[2] was born in Memphis. His father, Milton,[2] was born in Alabama and moved with his parents to Chi
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Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams is a composer, arranger, and pianist in a variety of musical styles, including jazz, extended forms of improvisation, and classical music. Abrams composes for various types of instrumental combinations, performing solo piano concerts, and touring throughout the world with various ensembles.
In the s, Abrams wrote arrangements for pianist King Fleming's Jazz Orchestra. From to , he played hard bop in Walter Perkins' group MJT + 3 (Modern Jazz Two Plus Three), and accompanied leading jazz performers during their visits to Chicago, including Kenny Durham, Art Farmer, Hank Mobley, Ray Nance, Max Roach, and Sonny Stitt. In , Abrams began his foray into extended forms of composition and improvisation in his Experimental Band, which included musicians such as saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman.
In Abrams made his recording debut, Levels and Degrees of Light on Chicago's Delmark label, and later released Sightsong and
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Interview by Molly Murphy for the NEA
July 24,
Edited by Don Ball
BEGINNINGS
NEA: You were born in in Chicago.
Muhal Richard Abrams: Yes.
NEA: Was music a significant part of your environment growing up? Were you going to clubs and hearing people playing in bars, or was it mostly recorded music?
Muhal Richard Abrams: [Music was] just about everywhere. I mean, musicians were playing in the neighborhood. There were musicians that had instruments like saxophones and stuff like that. And a lot of these people weren't actually professional musicians in the sense that they were out actively making a living playing music, but they were people who aspired to sound like Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins. So they'd buy these saxophones and they would play them. So my contact to the idea of performing music sort of started there, although I didn't start then.
NEA: When did you start?
Muhal Richard Abrams: I started very late. I started in actually. Prior to that, I was dealing