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Bobby Few

American jazz musician (1935–2021) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Few
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Bobby Few (October 21, 1935 – January 6, 2021) was an American jazz pianist and vocalist.

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Early life

Born Robert Lee Few Junior on October 21, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio, "he was the son of Robert Senior, a maître d'hôtel at a white country club, and Winifred, an amateur violinist",[1] and grew up in the Fairfax neighborhood of the city's East Side. On his mother's encouragement, Few studied classical piano, but later discovered jazz while listening to his father's Jazz at the Philharmonic records. His father became his first booking agent, and soon Few was doing gigs around the greater Cleveland area with other local musicians including Bill Hardman, Bob Cunningham, Cevera Jefferies and Frank Wright. He was exposed to Tadd Dameron and Benny Bailey during his youth, and knew Albert Ayler, with whom he played in high school. As a young man, Few also gigged with local tenor legend Tony "Big T" Lovano – Joe Lovano's father.

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Career

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In the late 1950s, Few relocated to New York, where he led a trio from 1958 to 1964; there, he met and began working with many world-class musicians, including singer Brook Benton, and saxophonists Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson and Ayler.[2] Few played on several of Ayler's albums and also recorded with Alan Silva, Noah Howard, Muhammad Ali, Booker Ervin, and Kali Fasteau [de]. In 1969, he moved to France and rapidly integrated the expatriate jazz community, working frequently with Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, Steve Lacy and Rasul Siddik. From 2001, he toured internationally with American saxophonist Avram Fefer, with whom he recorded four critically acclaimed CDs.

Few played extensively around Europe and made[3] regular trips back to the United States.[4] Recently, he played with saxophonist Charles Gayle and led his own trio in Paris, France. He was working on a Booker Ervin tribute project called Few's Blues that featured tenor player Tony Lakatos, bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Doug Sides. Few was interviewed in a 2008 documentary, later released on DVD, on drummer Sunny Murray – "Sunny's Time Now".

Bobby Few died on January 6, 2021, at the age of 85.[5]

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Playing style

Some of Few's various playing styles were described by Kevin Whitehead: "He can play delicate single-note melodies, roll out lush romantic chords, rap out explicitly Monkish close-interval clanks – though he's a busier pianist than Monk – or roil around in classic free style, using a sustain pedal to shape the density of his sound".[3]

Discography

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As leader or co-leader

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As sideman

Years in brackets refer to dates of recording.

With Albert Ayler

With Jacques Coursil

With Hans Dulfer

  • El Saxofón (Catfish, 1970)

With Mike Ellis

  • What Else is New? (Alfa, 1985)

With Booker Ervin

With Zusaan Kali Fasteau

  • Sensual Hearing (Flying Note, 1994–95)
  • Camaraderie (Flying Note, 1997)
  • Making Waves (Flying Note, 2004)

With Avram Fefer

  • Few and Far Between (Boxholder 2002) w/ Wilber Morris
  • Kindred Spirits (Boxholder, 2005)
  • Heavenly Places (Boxholder, 2005)
  • Sanctuary (CIMP, 2006) w/ Newman Taylor Baker, Hill Greene

With Ricky Ford

  • Songs for My Mother (Jazz Friends Production, 2001)

With Noah Howard

With Talib Kibwe

  • Egyptian Oasis (Cryonic, 1986)

With Steve Lacy

With David Murray

With Sunny Murray

  • Aigu-Grave (Marge, 1979)

With Archie Shepp

With Alan Silva

With Marzette Watts

With Joe Lee Wilson

  • Secrets From The Sun (Sun, 1977)

With Frank Wright

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References

External links

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