John Young

A longtime fixture from the Chicago bop picture — and criminally underappreciated beyond it — pianist John Young collaborated with jazz giants which range from Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald to Dexter Gordon throughout a profession spanning a lot more than six years. Delivered March 16, 1922 in Small Rock, AR, Youthful was the last of eight kids — the family members relocated to Chicago while he was still a young child, and at age group eight he started playing piano, afterwards learning under celebrated DuSable SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL trainer Captain Walter Dyett. After offering briefly within the U.S. Navy during Globe War II, Youthful agreed upon on with bandleader Andy Kirk & His 12 Clouds of Pleasure in 1942, staying using the big music group for five years and crisscrossing the U.S. myriad moments. In 1947 he came back to Chicago once and for all, leading his very own trio beneath the name Little John Little furthermore to forging a protracted cooperation with tenor saxophonist Eddie Chamblee. While Young’s lyrical playing originally lent from golf swing icon Earl Hines, he quickly created his own exclusive approach that wedded the earthiness from the blues using the cerebral intricacy of bebop — vocalist Nancy Wilson implored him to become listed on her on tour but he dropped, rarely traveling beyond the Windy Town through the remainder of his profession. In 1957, Little agreed upon to Argo to concern his debut LP Opus de Funk, implemented two years afterwards by his recognized masterpiece, the Delmark launch The Serenata. An in-demand program contributor, he also performed on LPs headlined by T-Bone Walker, Lorez Alexandria, and Etta Wayne, along with 1961’s Themes and Points scored an area strike with “Like Theme from ‘Spartacus,'” for quite some time the theme track for Chicago DJ Sid McCoy’s long-running WCFL all-night system. Although Young’s documenting profession slowed within the wake of 1962’s Some Pepper, he continued to be a regular existence on the venerable Chicago membership Jazz Showcase, support jazz serves including Dexter Gordon, blues greats like Big Joe Turner, and also comedians like Slim Gaillard. For a long time he became a member of saxophonist Von Freeman for every week sessions at night clubs like the Green Mill, the House, El Matador, as well as the Enterprise, and in addition supported Freeman on some independent label schedules. Little additionally made greater than a dozen performances on the annual Chicago Jazz Celebration, often to get tenor saxophonist Eddie Johnson. A return LP, Think Youthful, made an appearance in 1987. Youthful continued executing until serious sciatic nerve irritation compelled him to retire in 2005; he passed away from multiple myleoma on Apr 16, 2008 at age 86.