Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre is a musician of American Jazz born in 1921 with Dallas with the Texas. He plays of many instruments: Clarinet, Flute, Saxophone.

He played with Woody Hermann, and he also composed for him, in particular the piece Four Brothers created in 1947 by the legendary section of saxophonists (Marowitz, Steward, Cohn, Sims, Chaloff) of the Big band of Woody Hermann. Musician headlight of the movement West coast to which it gives many compositions in the years 1950, it in parallel develops experiments in small formations, quartets or trios without piano. Giuffre records under its name of 1956 to 1958 at Atlantic and of 1959 to 1961 at Verve.

In 1961, it forms a trio with the pianist Paul Bley and the bass player Steve Swallow and surprises its public while rocking without transition in a Free very personal jazz. Very few recordings of this period are available. In spite of the little of impact and success at the time, this trio had a considerable influence on the musicians of contemporary jazz, as European private individuals, who quote it like a reference, for example Evan Parker. It is in particular one of the first trio without battery, which renews esthetics completely, by opening sound space with lyricism, with the spread out harmonies, and with the interactions between musicians, the melody and the harmony become thus prevalent on the rate/rhythm. Although influenced by Lennie Tristano or George Russell, the music of the trio of Jimmy Giuffre is without common measurement with the music of the time, far from the furies of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane or of Cecil Taylor, the exploration which the trio of the harmony makes, the melody and the rate/rhythm pave the way towards the future developments of the impromptu Musiques, and the European jazz, and in particular esthetics ECM.

With the album Free Fall , the trio of Giuffre rocks towards the total improvisation. Although one of the first experiments on the matter, the music remained fraiche and radical. Steve Swallow reports however that the trio dissolved one night when they gained each one 35 hundreds, in the coffee New Yorkais where they played… This anecdote illustrates the difficulties of comprehension on behalf of the public to which they had to face.

It then opens in years 1970 with the influences of the Eastern music then of the Electronic music under independent labels (Choice, Crazy Heart Star, Soul Notes). Reforming in 1989 the legendary trio of 1960, it gives many concerts in France to beginning of the year 1990 before stopping, reached Parkinson's disease, in 1996.

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