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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 ZSHAW, Woody(b 24 Dec. 1944, Laurinburg NC; d 11 May 1989, NYC) Trumpet and flugelhorn, composer, bandleader. He grew up in Newark NJ; his father sang with a gospel group the Diamond Jubilee Singers. He began on bugle, then trumpet at eleven. First important gig with Willie Bobo in a band that included Chick Corea and Joe Farrell; then with Eric Dolphy until his death; gigged in Europe with expats Bud Powell, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Clarke etc; played/recorded with Horace Silver, Corea (album Inner Space), Art Blakey and others. During the '70s the influence of Dolphy came out and a stylistic resemblance to Freddie Hubbard lessened as he made his own albums; he became more his own man and a leader/composer to be reckoned with. The albums included Blackstone Legacy '70 and Song Of Songs '72 on Contemporary; Moontrane and Love Dance '75, Little Red's Fantasy '78 on Muse; CBS signed him at the suggestion of Miles Davis: Stepping Stones and Rosewood '78, Woody III '79 appeared on that label (complete sessions compiled on Mosaic '92 by his friend Michael Cuscuna). Further albums were Live Berliner Jazztage, The Iron Men (with Anthony Braxton and Arthur Blythe) and Setting Standards (with Cedar Walton), as well as '65 recordings In The Beginning, with Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers etc, all on Muse; Time Is Right on Red Records (live in Europe), Lotus Flower '82 on Enja, live Master Of The Art and Night Music on Elektra. He played on French Cooking and For Klook with the Paris Reunion Band, formed '84 as a tribute to Kenny Clarke; With Tone Jansa Quartet on Timeless '85; with the Carlos Ward Quartet's Lito '88 on Leo, live at the Northsea Jazz Festival. He had given up the responsibility of leadership in '83, perhaps lacking confidence in his composing; his marriage failed and he became rootless, suffering from depression. Having gone to see Max Roach at the Village Vanguard early '89 (by then legally blind from retinitis pigmentosa), he fell down steps and in front of a subway train, losing an arm, and died of pneumonia three months later. |