Leroy Jenkins
Encyclopedia
Leroy Jenkins was a composer
and free jazz
violin
ist and violist
.
Jenkins was involved in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
(AACM) while a public school teacher in Chicago. He co-founded the Creative Construction Company
with Anthony Braxton
and others. He led the Revolutionary Ensemble
and formed a trio with Anthony Davis
and Andrew Cyrille
.
During 1987 he toured Europe as part of Cecil Taylor
's group.
He gained recognition for music-theatre works such as The Mother of Three Sons (written in collaboration with Ann T. Greene), Fresh Faust and The Negros Burial Ground (in collaboration with Ann T. Greene), and The Three Willies (in collaboration with Homer Jackson).
With Alice Coltrane
With Creative Construction Company
With Carl Hancock Rux
With the Jazz Composer's Orchestra
With Paul Motian
With Dewey Redman
With Revolutionary Ensemble
With Archie Shepp
With Henry Threadgill
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
.
Jenkins was involved in 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....
(AACM) while a public school teacher in Chicago. He co-founded the Creative Construction Company
Creative Construction Company
The Creative Construction Company was an American jazz ensemble active briefly in the early 1970s.The ensemble recorded two albums for Muse Records and was composed of six noted improvisationalists: Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Muhal Richard Abrams, Richard Davis, and Steve...
with Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
and others. He led the Revolutionary Ensemble
Revolutionary Ensemble
The Revolutionary Ensemble was a free jazz trio consisting of violinist Leroy Jenkins , bassist Sirone and percussionist/pianist Jerome Cooper ....
and formed a trio with Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis, better known as Tony Davis , is an American composer, jazz pianist, and student of gamelan music.-Biography:...
and Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an avant-garde jazz drummer.Cyrille was born in Brooklyn, New York into a family with a mother from Haiti. He began studying science at St...
.
During 1987 he toured Europe as part of Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
's group.
He gained recognition for music-theatre works such as The Mother of Three Sons (written in collaboration with Ann T. Greene), Fresh Faust and The Negros Burial Ground (in collaboration with Ann T. Greene), and The Three Willies (in collaboration with Homer Jackson).
As leader
- 1975: For Players Only (with Jazz Composer's OrchestraJazz Composer's OrchestraJazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group founded in 1965, to further avant-garde jazz in New York. Carla Bley and Michael Mantler were important in its organization and style....
) - 1977: Solo Concert (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:...
) - 1977: Lifelong AmbitionsLifelong AmbitionsLifelong Ambitions is a live album by American jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins recorded in 1977 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Ron Wynn awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Leroy Jenkins, free jazz's greatest violinist, has always worked best in intimate situations...
(Black Saint) - 1978: The Legend of Ai GlatsonThe Legend of Ai GlatsonThe Legend of Ai Glatson is an album by American jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins recorded in 1978 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:...
(Black Saint) - 1978: Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival America (Tomato RecordsTomato RecordsTomato Records is an independent record label based in New York City. The label has released albums by influential artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Lightnin' Hopkins, Leadbelly, Chris Smither, Dave Brubeck, Nina Simone, Harry Partch and John Cage....
) - 1979: Mixed QuintetMixed QuintetMixed Quintet is an album by American jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins recorded in 1979 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Dean McFarlane awarded the album 2½ stars stating "Exploring the jazz language and improvisation in such an oblique manner, the recording bares...
(Black Saint) - 1979: Straight Ahead/Free at Last (Red RecordsRed RecordsRed Records is an Italian jazz record label established in 1976.Artists who have recorded for the label include Joe Henderson, Bobby Watson, Billy Higgins, Roberto Gatto, Franco d'Andrea, Dave Liebman, Cedar Walton, Edward Simon, Stafford James, Ray Mantilla, Jim Snidero, Black Note, Julius...
) - 1984: Urban Blues (Black Saint)
- 1992: Leroy Jenkins Live! (Black Saint)
- 1994: Themes and Improvisations on the Blues
- 1994: Santa Fe (Lovely Music)
- 1998: Solo (Lovely Music)
- 2000: Swift are the Winds of Life (with Rashied AliRashied AliRashied Ali, born Robert Patterson was an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.-Biography:...
)
As sideman
With Muhal Richard AbramsMuhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Free jazz medium. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces.- Biography :Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago...
- Mama and DaddyMama and DaddyMama and Daddy is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1980 and features performances of four of Abrams' compositions by a big band. The Allmusic review calls the album "a first-rate big band/large group session from 1980, with Muhal Richard...
- Levels and Degrees of LightLevels and Degrees of LightLevels and Degrees of Light is the debut album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Delmark label in 1968 and features performances of three of Abrams' compositions by Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Charles Clark, Gordon Emmanuel, Maurice McIntyre, Thurman Barker and Leonard...
With Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer.-Biography:...
- World GalaxyWorld Galaxy-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "This set may take some getting used to for some, but it's easily one of the strongest records Alice Coltrane ever released, and one of the finest moments in jazz from the early '70s"....
- Universal ConsciousnessUniversal ConsciousnessUniversal Consciousness was the fifth solo album released by Alice Coltrane in 1972 on Impulse! Records. It was re-released on CD in 2002.-Reception:...
With Creative Construction Company
Creative Construction Company
The Creative Construction Company was an American jazz ensemble active briefly in the early 1970s.The ensemble recorded two albums for Muse Records and was composed of six noted improvisationalists: Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Muhal Richard Abrams, Richard Davis, and Steve...
- Creative Construction Company (Muse, 1970)
- CCC, vol. 2 (Muse, 1971)
With Carl Hancock Rux
Carl Hancock Rux
Carl Hancock Rux is an award winning writer and performer; former Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts and has taught or been in residence at University of California–San Diego, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts Amherst,...
- Apothecary RxApothecary RxApothecary Rx is the second studio album by Carl Hancock Rux, produced by Rob Hyman and Stewart Lerman. The album also features singer Stephanie McKay and contributions from jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins and singer-songwriter Marc Anthony Thompson .- Track listing :# I Got a Name # Me # Ground #...
(Giant Step, 2004) - Good Bread Alley (Thirsty Ear Records, 2006)
With the Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Jazz Composer's Orchestra
Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group founded in 1965, to further avant-garde jazz in New York. Carla Bley and Michael Mantler were important in its organization and style....
- Relativity SuiteRelativity SuiteRelativity Suite is a free-jazz LP by Don Cherry on Jazz Composer's Orchestra Records JCOA LP 1006, which was released in 1973.-Criticism:...
(JCOA, 1973)
With Paul Motian
Paul Motian
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
- Conception VesselConception VesselConception Vessel is the debut album by Paul Motian and was released on the ECM label. It was released in 1972 and features performances by Motian with Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Leroy Jenkins, Sam Brown and Becky Friend.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1973)
With Dewey Redman
Dewey Redman
Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
- CoincideCoincide (album)Coincide is an album by American jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman featuring performances recorded in 1974 for the Impulse! label. Four performances from Coincide were included on the 1998 CD reissue of The Ear of the Behearer as bonus tracks....
(Impulse!, 1974)
With Revolutionary Ensemble
Revolutionary Ensemble
The Revolutionary Ensemble was a free jazz trio consisting of violinist Leroy Jenkins , bassist Sirone and percussionist/pianist Jerome Cooper ....
- Manhattan Cycles (India Navigation, 1972)
- Vietnam (ESP, 1972)
- The People's Republic (A&M, 1975)
- The Psyche (Mutable Music, 1975)
- Positions 369 (Karma, 1977)
- The Revolutionary Ensemble Recorded Live at Moosham Castle (Inner City, 1977)
- And Now... (Pi, 2004)
With Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
- Attica BluesAttica Blues (album)Attica Blues is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp. Originally released in 1972 on the Impulse! label, the album title is a direct reference to the Attica Prison riots...
- The Cry of My PeopleThe Cry of My PeopleThe Cry of My People is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp released in 1972 on the Impulse! label. The album features performances by Shepp with gospel singers, big bands, quintets, sextets, and chamber orchestras...
- Black GipsyBlack GipsyBlack Gipsy is an album by jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp recorded in Europe in 1969 for the America label. The album was also issued by the Prestige label under the title Black Gypsy. The Allmusic review by Sean Westergaard states "This music gets intense, but melody is always at its core: this is...
With Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
- Too Much Sugar for a DimeToo Much Sugar for a DimeToo Much Sugar for a Dime is an album by Henry Threadgill, released in 1993 on the Axiom label. It has been described as: "a mad, glorious romp which explores some very dark timbres and tonalities and yet remains witty, fresh and consistently exciting." .-Track listing:# "Little Pocket Size...
External links
- Lovely Music Artist: Leroy Jenkins
- AACM: Leroy Jenkins
- Other Minds: Leroy Jenkins
- Dialogue between 'Blue' Gene Tyranny and Leroy Jenkins