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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSULLIVAN, Ira(b 1 May 1931, Washington DC; d 21 September 2020) Trumpet, saxophones, flute. He worked at the Bee Hive in Chicago early '50s with visiting stars including Charlie Parker; also played with Art Blakey '56 (recorded on Columbia), mostly worked in Chicago until moving to Florida in the '60s. He came back to Chicago often from about 1977, in fact regarded it as his musical home, appearing regularly at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, especially during the annual Chicago Jazz Festival. He recorded with J. R. Monterose on Blue Note, with Red Rodney on Fantasy and Savoy (the Savoy date '57 was originally on Signal), Roland Kirk on Cadet, Eddie Harris on Atlantic (Come On Down, reissued on Discovery). His own albums included Nicky's Tune, Tough Town, Ira Sullivan Quartet and Blue Stroll (with Johnny Griffin) on Delmark, The Incredible Ira Sullivan on Stash, Ira Sullivan on A&M 76; and another Ira Sullivan on Flying Fish, a beauty produced c.1978 by Chuck Nessa, who was able to reissue it on CD in 2014, changing the title to CIrcumstantial, with amusing and revealing notes by Ira. A late album was A Family Affair: Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase 2011 on Origin. Ira had been reunited with Rodney for four albums on Muse (all from the Village Vanguard) and two on Elektra/Musician, all '81-82. See Rodney's entry; Ira's years with Rodney, someone wrote, would constitute a small book in itself. There were other albums on Galaxy, Bird Lives on Vee-Jay, etc. Music was like a religion to Ira Sullivan, yet there was also always something playful about him. A master jazz musician, he would not only improvise a different solo each time, but the entire set, changing on the fly into a new song, a new key, a new rhythm, challenging the band to follow him; this could make things difficult for record producers, but just watching and listening to him was a learning experience for other musicans, to say nothing of playing with him. |