Chico Freeman
Encyclopedia
Chico Freeman is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist
and trumpet
er and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman
. He began recording as lead musician in 1976 with Morning Prayer, won the New York Jazz Award in 1979 and earned the Stereo Review
Record of the Year in 1981 for his album The Outside Within.
. He went to Northwestern University
in 1967 with a scholarship for mathematics and played the trumpet in the school, but did not begin playing the saxophone until his junior year. After practicing eight to ten hours per day and trying out for the saxophone section, Freeman quickly changed his major to music, and graduated in 1972. By that time he was proficient in saxophone, trumpet, and piano.
After graduation, Freeman taught at the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
School of Music in Chicago and started taking classes as a graduate student at Governors State University
, earning a master's degree in composition and theory. Although most of Freeman's musical upbringing had been in jazz
, at this time he began getting involved in blues
music as well. He began playing at local Chicago clubs with artists such as Memphis Slim
and Lucky Carmichael.
, and widened his musical influences. The following years would be the most productive of his career, producing albums such as No Time Left, Tradition in Transition, and The Outside Within; the last of which earned him Record of the Year from Stereo Review
.
He came to prominence in the late 1970s as part of a movement including Wynton Marsalis
of modern players steeped in the traditions of jazz, recording for independent labels like India Navigation
and Contemporary Records
. Freeman's albums contain standards and compositions by modernists like John Coltrane
as well as new tunes by Freeman and his contemporaries such as bassist Cecil McBee
. The line-up on his 1981 album Destiny's Dance includes Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Hutcherson
, Cecil McBee (these two contributing compositions), with Freeman playing tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. Freeman formed the band Guataca and released Oh By the Way... in 2002. Freeman has toured internationally, both with his band as well as with Chaka Khan
, Tomasz Stanko
, Celia Cruz
and Tito Puente
. Members of Guataca include Hilton Ruiz
, Ruben Rodriguez, Yoron Israel, and Giovanni Hidalgo
.
In 1989, he put together an electric band called Brainstorm consisting of himself, Delmar Brown (vocals and keyboards), Norman Hedman (percussion), Chris Walker (bassist), Archie Walker (drums).
In 1998, Freeman produced an album for Arthur Blythe
called NightSong, and in 1999 he began teaching at New School University.
With McCoy Tyner
With Jack DeJohnette
With Kip Hanrahan
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman
Von Freeman
Earle Lavon Freeman Sr. is an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. He is the father of jazz saxophonist Chico Freeman.-Biography:...
. He began recording as lead musician in 1976 with Morning Prayer, won the New York Jazz Award in 1979 and earned the Stereo Review
Stereo Review
Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
Record of the Year in 1981 for his album The Outside Within.
Early years
Freeman was introduced to the trumpet by his brother Everett, who found a trumpet in the family basement. Freeman began playing, inspired by artists such as Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
. He went to Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1967 with a scholarship for mathematics and played the trumpet in the school, but did not begin playing the saxophone until his junior year. After practicing eight to ten hours per day and trying out for the saxophone section, Freeman quickly changed his major to music, and graduated in 1972. By that time he was proficient in saxophone, trumpet, and piano.
After graduation, Freeman taught at the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran....
School of Music in Chicago and started taking classes as a graduate student at Governors State University
Governors State University
Governors State University is a public university located in University Park, Illinois. The campus is located south of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1969, GSU is an upper-division university, offering undergraduate courses at the junior and senior levels as well as graduate level coursework at...
, earning a master's degree in composition and theory. Although most of Freeman's musical upbringing had been in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, at this time he began getting involved in blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
music as well. He began playing at local Chicago clubs with artists such as Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other...
and Lucky Carmichael.
Career
1976 saw the release of Freeman's first album as lead musician, Morning Prayer. The next year he moved to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and widened his musical influences. The following years would be the most productive of his career, producing albums such as No Time Left, Tradition in Transition, and The Outside Within; the last of which earned him Record of the Year from Stereo Review
Stereo Review
Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
.
He came to prominence in the late 1970s as part of a movement including Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
of modern players steeped in the traditions of jazz, recording for independent labels like India Navigation
India Navigation
India Navigation was an American independent record label that was active from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Founded by corporate lawyer Bob Cummins, the label specialized in jazz music, particularly avant-garde jazz.-Discography:...
and Contemporary Records
Contemporary Records
Contemporary Records was a jazz record label founded by Lester Koenig in 1951 in Los Angeles. Contemporary was known for seminal recordings embodying the West Coast sound, but also released recordings based in New York...
. Freeman's albums contain standards and compositions by modernists like John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
as well as new tunes by Freeman and his contemporaries such as bassist Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee is an American post bop jazz bassist, described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz as "a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts." Allmusic called him "One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists".-Biography:McBee...
. The line-up on his 1981 album Destiny's Dance includes Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
, Cecil McBee (these two contributing compositions), with Freeman playing tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. Freeman formed the band Guataca and released Oh By the Way... in 2002. Freeman has toured internationally, both with his band as well as with Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Tomasz Stanko
Tomasz Stanko
Tomasz Stańko is a Polish trumpeter, composer and improviser. Often recording for ECM, Stańko is strongly associated with free jazz and the avant-garde....
, Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
and Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
. Members of Guataca include Hilton Ruiz
Hilton Ruiz
Hilton Ruiz was a Puerto Rican American jazz pianist in the Afro-Cuban jazz mold, but was also a talented bebop player....
, Ruben Rodriguez, Yoron Israel, and Giovanni Hidalgo
Giovanni Hidalgo
Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is an educator and percussionist associated with Latin jazz.-Early years:Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary education. His grandfather had also been a musician as well as his father, José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue", who was...
.
In 1989, he put together an electric band called Brainstorm consisting of himself, Delmar Brown (vocals and keyboards), Norman Hedman (percussion), Chris Walker (bassist), Archie Walker (drums).
In 1998, Freeman produced an album for Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
called NightSong, and in 1999 he began teaching at New School University.
As leader
- Morning PrayerMorning Prayer (album)Morning Prayer is a 1978 album by Chico Freeman, released on India Navigation and the Japanese Whynot Records.-Tracklisting:#"Like the Kind of Peace It is"#"The In Between"#"Conversations"#"Morning Prayer"#"Pepe's Samba"#"Pepe's Samba"...
(India NavigationIndia NavigationIndia Navigation was an American independent record label that was active from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Founded by corporate lawyer Bob Cummins, the label specialized in jazz music, particularly avant-garde jazz.-Discography:...
/Whynot RecordsWhynot Records-Discography:...
, 1976) - ChicoChico (album)Chico is a post-bop jazz lp by Chico Freeman on India Navigation Records IN 1031 -on which Chico switches between tenor saxophone, bass clarinet and flute during long, explorative tracks....
(India Navigation, 1977) - No Time LeftNo Time LeftNo Time Left is an album by American jazz saxophonist Chico Freeman recorded in 1979 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating "Freeman's warm tone and knowledge of more traditional areas of jazz make even his more abstract...
(Black Saint, 1977) - Beyond the Rain, (Contemporary, 1978)
- Warriors (Black Saint, 1976)
- Kings Of MaliKings of MaliKings Of Mali is a post-bop/avant-garde jazz lp by Chico Freeman on India Navigation Records IN 1035 in September 1977 and released in 1978....
(India Navigation, 1978) - Spirit SensitiveSpirit SensitiveSpirit Sensitive is a hard-bop jazz album by Chico Freeman on India Navigation Records IN 1045.The LP, in contrast to many of his more avant-garde recordings of the same time frame, is a set that consists of jazz standards.-Criticism:...
, (India Navigation, 1979) - Peaceful Heart/Gentle Spirit (Contemporary, 1980)
- The Outside Within (India Navigation, 1981)
- The Search (India Navigation, 1981)
- Destiny’s Dance (Contemporary, 1981)
- Tradition in Transition (Elektra, 1982)
- Tangents (Elektra, 1984)
- Live at Ronnie Scotts (Wadham Films/London, 1986)
- The Pied Piper (1987)
- Tales of Ellington (Blackhawk, 1987)
- Luminous (Jazzhouse, 1988)
- Mystical Dreamer with "Brainstorm" (In & Out Records, 1989)
- You’ll Know When You Get There (Black Saint, 1990 )
- Sweet Explosion ( In & Out Records, 1990)
- Threshold (In & Out Records, 1993)
- The Unspoken Word (Jazz House, 1994)
- Focus (Contemporary/Fantasy, 1995)
- Still Sensitive (India Navigation, 1995)
- The Emissary (Clarity Recordings 1996)
- Von & Chico Freeman Live at the Blue Note with Special Guest Dianne Reeves Half Note Records, 1999)
- Oh, By the Way (Double Moon Records, 2002)
As sideman
With The LeadersThe Leaders
The Leaders is a jazz supergroup formed in 1985.The initial lineup of The Leaders was put together by trumpeter Lester Bowie, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, and tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman, along with a rhythm section of pianist Kirk Lightsey, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Famoudou Don...
- MudfootMudfootMudfoot is the debut album by the all-star jazz group The Leaders released on the Black Hawk label in 1986. The album features performances by Lester Bowie, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe, Cecil McBee, Kirk Lightsey and Don Moye....
(1986,Black Hawk Records) - Out Here Like ThisOut Here Like This-Track listing:# "Zero" - 7:53# "Luna" - 6:33# "Cool T." - 5:13# "Donkey Dust" - 7:06# "Portraits" - 7:58# "Felicite" - 5:59# "Loves I Once Knew" - 5:53-Personnel:*Lester Bowie – trumpet...
(1987, Black Saint Records) - Unforeseen BlessingsUnforeseen Blessings-Track listing:# "In a Minute" - 2:51# "Hip Dripper" - 3:35# "Sun Precondition Five" - 0:38# "The Search" - 2:48# "Lightish" - 1:22# "Sun Precondition Six" - 0:18# "Peacemaker" - 6:34...
(1988, Black Saint) - Heaven Dance (1988, Sunnyside Records)
- Spirits Alike (2007, Double Moon)
With McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
- La Leyenda de La HoraLa Leyenda de La HoraLa Leyenda de La Hora is a 1981 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Columbia label. It features performances by Tyner with Paquito D'Rivera, Chico Freeman, Marcus Belgrave, Hubert Laws, Bobby Hutcherson and a string section...
(1981)
With Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
- Tin Can AlleyTin Can Alley (album)Tin Can Alley is a live album by Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition featuring Chico Freeman, John Purcell and Peter Warren recorded in 1980 and released on the ECM label in 1981. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "The wide-ranging music on this fine set ranges from African rhythms and colors...
(1981) - Inflation BluesInflation BluesInflation Blues is an album by Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition featuring Chico Freeman, John Purcell, and Rufus Reid, with Baikida Carroll added on four tracks, recorded in 1982 and released on the ECM label in 1983. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "this is a particularly strong outing...
(1983)
With Kip Hanrahan
Kip Hanrahan
Kip Hanrahan is an American jazz music impresario, record producer and percussionist.-Biography:Hanrahan was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx to an Irish-Jewish family. He has an unusual role in the albums released under his name, one which he has analogized to that of a film...
- TendernessTenderness (album)Tenderness is a dark experimental [Latin Jazz meets Downtown Music] recording under the musical direction of Kip Hanrahan.-Track listing:#'...Faith In The Pants, Not In The Prick...' - 5:37...
(1990)