Victor Sproles
Encyclopedia
Victor Sproles is a US jazz
bassist
.
Sproles worked in the 1950s with Red Rodney
and Ira Sullivan
and appears on the Sun Ra
recordings Super-Sonic Jazz
, Sound of Joy
and Deep Purple
.
In 1957 he appeared on the Verve recording Stan Meets Chet with Stan Getz
and Chet Baker
.
In 1960 he joined Johnny Griffin
's Big Soul Band and in 1961 played in Muhal Richard Abrams
' Experimental Band.
In 1964 he joined Art Blakey
's Jazz Messengers, recording the album SMake It for Limelight
; Lee Morgan
and his old Sun Ra bandmate John Gilmore
were in the group. He recorded two more albums with the Messengers after Gilmore left.
He subsequently appeared Lee Morgan
's Blue Note albums The Rumproller
and The Sixth Sense.
In 1974 he played in Clark Terry
's big band and appeared on Buddy DeFranco
's album Free Fall.
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...
bassist
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
.
Sproles worked in the 1950s with Red Rodney
Red Rodney
Robert Roland Chudnick , who performed by the stage name Red Rodney, was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
and Ira Sullivan
Ira Sullivan
Ira Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....
and appears on the Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
recordings Super-Sonic Jazz
Super-Sonic Jazz
Super-Sonic Jazz is an album by Sun Ra, recorded in 1956 at RCA Studios, Chicago. Super-Sonic Jazz was the first album to be released on Saturn records, the label run by Sun Ra and Alton Abraham, and was one of only three albums by Sun Ra to have been available in the 1950s...
, Sound of Joy
Sound of Joy
Sound of Joy is an album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. It features the Arkestral lineup during the last few months of 1956, after trombonist Julian Priester left to join Lionel Hampton, Charles Davis became a regular member of the band, and Victor Sproles took over on bass...
and Deep Purple
Deep Purple (Sun Ra album)
Deep Purple is an album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra featuring Stuff Smith on violin.-Pressings:*Saturn LP 485 *side A reissued on Evidence 22014 *side B reissued on Evidence 22217...
.
In 1957 he appeared on the Verve recording Stan Meets Chet with Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
.
In 1960 he joined Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
's Big Soul Band and in 1961 played in Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal 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...
' Experimental Band.
In 1964 he joined Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
's Jazz Messengers, recording the album SMake It for Limelight
Limelight Records
Limelight Records was a subsidiary label of Mercury Records. Originally headed by Quincy Jones, its activities were directed by the producer Jack Tracy...
; Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
and his old Sun Ra bandmate John Gilmore
John Gilmore (musician)
John Gilmore was an American jazz tenor saxophone player best-known for his long tenure as a member of Sun Ra's Arkestra...
were in the group. He recorded two more albums with the Messengers after Gilmore left.
He subsequently appeared Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
's Blue Note albums The Rumproller
The Rumproller
The Rumproller is an album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on April 21, 1965 and features performances by Morgan with Joe Henderson, Ronnie Mathews, Victor Sproles, and Billy Higgins.-Reception:...
and The Sixth Sense.
In 1974 he played in Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
's big band and appeared on Buddy DeFranco
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...
's album Free Fall.
Discography
- 1955: Modern Music from Chicago — Red RodneyRed RodneyRobert Roland Chudnick , who performed by the stage name Red Rodney, was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
with Ira Sullivan (ts, t), Red Rodney (t, v), Norman SimmonsNorman Simmons (musician)Norman Simmons is an American arranger, composer, educator, and most prominently a pianist who has worked extensively with Helen Humes, Carmen McRae, and Sarah Vaughan, Anita O'Day, and Joe Williams among others.-Biography:...
(p), Sproles (b), Roy HaynesRoy HaynesRoy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
(d) - 1956: Super-Sonic JazzSuper-Sonic JazzSuper-Sonic Jazz is an album by Sun Ra, recorded in 1956 at RCA Studios, Chicago. Super-Sonic Jazz was the first album to be released on Saturn records, the label run by Sun Ra and Alton Abraham, and was one of only three albums by Sun Ra to have been available in the 1950s...
— Sun RaSun RaSun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama... - 1956: Sound of JoySound of JoySound of Joy is an album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. It features the Arkestral lineup during the last few months of 1956, after trombonist Julian Priester left to join Lionel Hampton, Charles Davis became a regular member of the band, and Victor Sproles took over on bass...
— Sun Ra - 1957: Deep PurpleDeep Purple (Sun Ra album)Deep Purple is an album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra featuring Stuff Smith on violin.-Pressings:*Saturn LP 485 *side A reissued on Evidence 22014 *side B reissued on Evidence 22217...
[released in 1973] — Sun Ra - 1958: Nicky's Tune — Ira SullivanIra SullivanIra Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....
(t) with Nicky Hill (ts), Jodie ChristianJodie ChristianJodie Christian is an American jazz pianist, noted for bebop and free jazz. He is one of the co-founders of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians along with pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran...
(p), Sproles (b), Wilbur Campbell (d) - 1959: Blue Stroll — Ira Sullivan (as, bar, t, ah) with Johnny GriffinJohnny GriffinJohn Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
(as, ts, bar), Jodie Christian (p), Sproles (b), Wilbur Campbell (d) - 1964: Blues Bag — Buddy DeFrancoBuddy DeFrancoBoniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...
- 1965: Are You Real — Art BlakeyArt BlakeyArthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
- 1965: Soul Finger — Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers with Lucky ThompsonLucky ThompsonEli "Lucky" Thompson was a United States jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist...
(ss) John HicksJohn Hicks (jazz pianist)John Josephus Hicks, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, active in the New York and the international jazz scene from the mid-1960s.-Biography:...
(p) Sproles (b) Art Blakey (d) - 1965: The RumprollerThe RumprollerThe Rumproller is an album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on April 21, 1965 and features performances by Morgan with Joe Henderson, Ronnie Mathews, Victor Sproles, and Billy Higgins.-Reception:...
— Lee MorganLee MorganEdward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
(t) with Joe HendersonJoe HendersonJoe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...
(ts), Ronnie Matthews (p), Sproles (b), Billy HigginsBilly HigginsBilly Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
(d) - 1968: Dance with DeathDance with DeathDance with Death is an album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill featuring performances recorded in 1968 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1980...
[released in 1980] — Andrew HillAndrew HillAndrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...
(p) with Michael CuscunaMichael CuscunaMichael Cuscuna is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is a leading discographer of Blue Note Records....
(ss), Joe FarrellJoe FarrellJoseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
(ts), Sproles (b), Charles TolliverCharles TolliverCharles Tolliver is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. Tolliver was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where, as a child, he received his first trumpet as a gift from his grandmother. He attended Howard University in the early 1960s as a pharmacy student, when he decided to pursue music as a...
(t)