Larry Young (musician)
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Larry Young | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Khalid Yasin |
| Born | October 7, 1940 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 30, 1978 (aged 37) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument | Organ |
| Labels | Blue Note |
Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin [Abdul Aziz]; October 7, 1940 – March 30, 1978)[1] was an American jazz organist and occasional pianist. Young's early work was strongly influenced by the soul jazz of Jimmy Smith, but he later pioneered a more experimental, modal approach to the Hammond B-3.[2]
Biography
Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, United States, Young attended Newark Arts High School, where he began performing with a vocal group and a jazz band.[3] He was also the cousin of the drummer Jimmie Smith.[4]
Young played with various R&B bands in the 1950s, before gaining jazz experience with Jimmy Forrest, Lou Donaldson, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Tommy Turrentine.[1] Recording as a leader for Prestige from 1960, Young made a number of soul jazz discs, Testifying, Young Blues and Groove Street.[1] When Young signed with Blue Note around 1964, his music began to show the marked influence of John Coltrane.[1] In this period, he produced his most enduring work. He recorded several times as part of a trio with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Elvin Jones,[1] who were occasionally augmented by additional players. Most of these albums were released under Green's name, though Into Somethin' (with Sam Rivers on saxophone) became Young's Blue Note debut.[1] Unity, recorded in 1965, remains his best-known album; it features a front line of Joe Henderson and the young Woody Shaw.[1] Subsequent albums for Blue Note (Contrasts, Of Love and Peace, Heaven On Earth, Mother Ship) also drew on elements of the 1960s avant-garde and utilised local musicians from Young's hometown of Newark. Young then became a part of some of the earliest fusion groups: first on Emergency! with the Tony Williams Lifetime (with Tony Williams and John McLaughlin) and also on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew.[1] His sound with Lifetime was made distinctive by his often very percussive approach and regular heavy use of guitar and synthesizer-like effects. He is also known for a jam he recorded with rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, which was released after Hendrix's death on the album, Nine to the Universe.
In March 1978, he checked into a hospital for stomach pains.[5] He died there on March 30, 1978, while being treated for what is said to be pneumonia.[6] However, the actual cause of his death is unclear.[2][7]
Discography
As leader
- Testifying (New Jazz, 1960)
- Young Blues (New Jazz, 1960)
- Groove Street (Prestige, 1962)
- Into Somethin' (Blue Note, 1965) – rec. 1964
- Unity (Blue Note, 1966) – rec. 1965
- Of Love and Peace (Blue Note, 1967) – rec. 1966
- Contrasts (Blue Note, 1968) – rec. 1967
- Heaven on Earth (Blue Note, 1969) – rec. 1968
- Lawrence of Newark (Perception, 1975) – rec. 1973
- Fuel (Arista, 1975)
- Spaceball (Arista, 1976)
- The Magician (Acanta/Bellaphon, 1977)
- Mother Ship (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1969. LT series.
- Larry Young in Paris: The ORTF Sessions (Resonance, 2016) - rec. 1964–65 for French radio[8]
As sideman
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With Miles Davis
With Grant Green
With Gildo Mahones
With John McLaughlin
With The Tony Williams Lifetime
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With others
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References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 441. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
- ^ a b "Larry Young | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Biography, Larry Young Music. Accessed February 5, 2020. "Larry McCoy attended Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. While at Arts High, Larry was a bass singer in a vocal group called the Challengers, a member of the Operetta Club and the leader of his own jazz combo."
- ^ Original liner notes from Larry Young's Groove Street
- ^ "Jazz news: Larry Young: 1964-65". News.allaboutjazz.com. 14 March 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Larry Young's Self-Questioning Jazz". The New Yorker. 8 March 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Young, Larry Jr. (Khaled Yasin) – Jazz News". 27 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-12-27. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Larry Young | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
Further reading
- Lass, Don (February 10, 1974). "Record Previews: Lawrence of Newark". Asbury Park Press.
- News staff (September 10, 1975). "A Bright New Jazz Organist Emerges". New York Amsterdam News.
External links
- Larry Young discography at Discogs
- 'Unity: Larry Young and Black Music, from Soul Jazz to Free to Fusion' at Point of Departure
- 1940 births
- 1978 deaths
- African-American jazz musicians
- American jazz organists
- American male organists
- Hard bop organists
- Jazz-funk organists
- Modal jazz organists
- Musicians from Newark, New Jersey
- Post-bop organists
- Soul-jazz organists
- Blue Note Records artists
- Prestige Records artists
- Arista Records artists
- Avant-garde jazz organists
- 20th-century American keyboardists
- The Tony Williams Lifetime members
- 20th-century American organists
- 20th-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- Newark Arts High School alumni