Victor Feldman

Victor Feldman

born on 7/4/1934 in Edgware, Middlesex, United Kingdom

died on 12/5/1987 in Los Angeles, CA, United States

Victor Feldman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician, best known as a pianist and percussionist.

He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as an adult. Feldman immigrated to the United States in the mid-1950s, where he continued working in jazz and also as a session musician with a variety of pop and rock performers.

Early history

Feldman caused a sensation as a musical prodigy when he was "discovered", aged seven. His family were all musical and his father founded the Feldman Swing Club in London in 1942 to showcase his talented sons.[1] Feldman's first professional appearance was playing drums at No. 1 Rhythm Club as a member of the Feldman Trio with brothers Robert on clarinet and Monty on piano accordion. He featured in the films King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) and Theatre Royal (1943). In 1944 he was featured at a concert with Glenn Miller's AAAF band, as "Kid Krupa" (in reference to drummer Gene Krupa). His drums teacher Carlo Krahmer encouraged Feldman to play the vibraphone which he did first in the Ralph Sharon Sextet and later in the Roy Fox band. He worked in India in 1952 and 1953 in a band led by pianist Eddie Carroll. His vibraphone and conga drum playing were notable, but it was as a pianist that he became best known.

Later jazz and US session work

Before leaving the UK in 1955 to work in the US, Feldman recorded with Ronnie Scott's orchestra and quintet from 1954 to 1955, which also featured other important British jazz musicians such as Phil Seamen and Hank Shaw. It was Scott who recommended that Feldman emigrate to the US, which he did in 1957. Once there, his first steady work was with the Woody Herman Herd. From there he went on to join Buddy DeFranco. In 1958, he had his own working band on the west coast, which included the innovative bassist Scott LaFaro. His 1958 Album The Arrival of Victor Feldman includes LaFaro and Stan Levey on drums. He recorded with many jazz artists, including Benny Goodman, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis, most notably on Davis' 1963 album Seven Steps to Heaven, the title tune being his own composition. Davis invited Feldman to join his group full-time, but Feldman declined, preferring the stability of studio work to the career of a touring musician.[2] The 5-CD Shelly Manne Black Hawk set, originally released on LP in September 1959, is a good representation of Feldman's unmistakable driving "comping" behind the soloists, helping to define the session as a valuable hard bop genre element.

In 1957 Feldman settled in Los Angeles permanently and then specialised in lucrative session work for the US film and recording industry. He also branched out to work with a variety of musicians outside of jazz, working with artists such as Frank Zappa in 1967, Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell in the 1970s and Tom Waits and Joe Walsh in the 1980s. Feldman died at his home, aged 53, following a heart attack.[3] In 2009, he was inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.[4]

It is Victor Feldman's percussion work on Steely Dan's song "Do It Again" that gives the song its Latin groove.

Discography

As leader

  • Suite Sixteen (Contemporary, 1955)
  • Victor Feldman in London (Tempo, 1956)
  • Transatlantic Alliance (Tempo, 1956)
  • Vic Feldman on Vibes (Mode, 1957)
  • The Arrival of Victor Feldman (Contemporary, 1958)
  • Latinsville! (Contemporary, 1960)
  • Merry Olde Soul (Riverside, 1961)
  • Stop the World I Want to Get Off (World Pacific, 1962)
  • A Taste of Honey and a Taste of Bossa Nova (Infinity, 1962)
  • Soviet Jazz Themes (Äva, 1963)
  • Love Me with All Your Heart (Vee Jay, 1964)
  • It's a Wonderful World (Vee Jay, 1964)
  • Victor Feldman Plays Everything in Sight (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
  • The Venezuela Joropo (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
  • Smooth, (1970)
  • Your Smile, with Larance Marable, Bob Whitlock, (1973)
  • The Artful Dodger, (1977)
  • In My Pocket, (1977)
  • Together Again, with Monty Budwig, Shelly Manne, (1978)
  • Soft Shoulder, (Palo Alto, 1982)
  • Secrets of the Andes, (Palo Alto, 1982)
  • To Chopin with Love, with John Patitucci, Trevor Feldman (1983)
  • Call of the Wild, (1984)
  • Fiesta (1984)
  • High Visibility (1985)
  • The Young Vic, (1987)
  • Seven Steps to Heaven (Candid, 2009)

As sideman

With Pepper Adams

  • California Cookin' (Interplay, 1983 [1991])

With Cannonball Adderley

  • Cannonball Adderley and the Poll Winners (Riverside, 1960)
  • The Cannonball Adderley Quintet at the Lighthouse (Riverside, 1960)
  • Live in Europe (Pablo, 1984) (Fantasy, 1994)
  • Paris 1960 (Fantasy, 1997)
  • The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Plus (Riverside, 1961)

With Nat Adderley

  • A Little New York Midtown Music (Galaxy, 1978)

With Curtis Amy

  • Way Down (Pacific Jazz, 1962)

With James Clay

  • A Double Dose of Soul (Riverside, 1960)

With Bob Cooper

  • Coop! The Music of Bob Cooper (Contemporary, 1958)

With Miles Davis

  • Seven Steps to Heaven (Columbia, 1963)
  • Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1963)

With The Doobie Brothers

With The Free Movement

  • I've Found Someone of My Own (Columbia, 1972)

With Woody Herman

  • At the Monterey Jazz Festival (Atlantic, 1959)

With Paul Horn

  • Impressions of Cleopatra (Columbia, 1963)

With Milt Jackson

  • Memphis Jackson (Impulse!), 1969)

With J. J. Johnson

  • A Touch of Satin (Columbia, 1962)
  • Concepts in Blue (Pablo, 1981)

With Plas Johnson

  • This Must Be the Plas (Capitol, 1959)

With Quincy Jones

  • The Hot Rock OST (Prophesy, 1972)
  • Roots (A&M, 1977)

With Sam Jones

  • The Chant (Riverside, 1961)

With Stan Kenton

  • Hair (Capitol, 1969)

With Barney Kessel

  • Let's Cook! (Contemporary, 1957 [1962])
  • Carmen (Contemporary, 1958)

With John Klemmer

  • Waterfalls (Impulse!, 1972)
  • Intensity (Impulse!, 1973)

With Shelly Manne

  • Shelly Manne & His Men Play Peter Gunn (Contemporary, 1959)
  • Son of Gunn!! (Contemporary, 1959)
  • At the Black Hawk 1 (Contemporary, 1959)
  • At the Black Hawk 2 (Contemporary, 1959)
  • At the Black Hawk 3 (Contemporary, 1959)
  • At the Black Hawk 4 (Contemporary, 1959)
  • At the Black Hawk 5 (Contemporary, 1959 [1991])
  • My Son the Jazz Drummer! (Contemporary, 1962)
  • Daktari (Atlantic, 1967)

With Carmen McRae

  • Can't Hide Love (Blue Note, 1976)

With Blue Mitchell

  • Stablemates (Candid, 1977)

With Oliver Nelson

  • Zig Zag (MGM, 1970)

With Art Pepper and Zoot Sims

  • Art 'n' Zoot (Pablo, 1981 [1995])

With Lalo Schifrin

  • Gone with the Wave (Colpix, 1964)
  • The Cincinnati Kid (MGM, 1965)

With Bud Shank

  • Girl in Love (World Pacific, 1966)
  • Bud Shank Plays Music from Today's Movies (World Pacific, 1967)
  • Magical Mystery (World Pacific, 1967)

With Boz Scaggs

  • Down Two Then Left (Columbia, 1977)

With Steely Dan

  • Can't Buy a Thrill (ABC Records, 1972)
  • Countdown to Ecstasy (ABC Records, 1973)
  • Pretzel Logic (ABC Records, 1974)
  • Katy Lied (ABC Records, 1975)
  • The Royal Scam (ABC Records, 1976)
  • Aja (ABC Records, 1977)
  • Gaucho (MCA Records, 1980)

With Joni Mitchell

  • The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Asylum, 1975)

With James Taylor

  • Gorilla (Warner Bros., 1975)

With Gino Vannelli

  • Brother to Brother (A&M, 1978)

With Harold Vick

  • Commitment (Muse, 1967 [1974])

With Leroy Vinnegar

  • Leroy Walks! (Contemporary, 1958)
  • Leroy Walks Again!!! (Contemporary, 1963)

With Tom Waits

With Gerald Wilson

  • Feelin' Kinda Blues (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
  • On Stage (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
  • The Golden Sword (Pacific Jazz, 1966)

References

  1. ^ Barbara Feldman (16 September 1995). "100 Oxford Street – Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved 24 November 2012. 
  2. ^ See Bob Belden's liner notes to the 2005 reissue of Seven Steps to Heaven. Columbia/Legacy CK 93592
  3. ^ "British-Born Jazz Prodigy Victor Feldman Dies". Los Angeles Times. 14 May 1987. 
  4. ^ http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1623747/rascal-flatts-perform-with-toto-during-musicians-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony.jhtml

External links

  • Interview with Les Tomkins
  • Victor Feldman at AllMusic
  • Victor Feldman discography
This page was last modified 05.02.2018 06:06:07

This article uses material from the article Victor Feldman from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.