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Charles McPherson
@ the PizzaExpress Jazz Club
20 December 2010
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Biography
Charles McPherson was born in Joplin, Missouri and moved to Detroit
at age nine. After growing up in Detroit, he studied with the renowned
pianist Barry Harris and started playing jazz professionally at
age 19. He moved from Detroit to New York in 1959 and performed
with Charles Mingus from 1960 to 1972. While performing with Mingus,
he collaborated frequently with Harris, Lonnie Hillyer (trumpet),
and George Coleman (tenor sax).
McPherson has performed at concerts and festivals with his own
orchestra. He was recently featured at Lincoln Center showcasing
his original compositions and arrangements with a seven-piece ensemble.
McPherson has toured the US, Europe, Japan, Africa and South America
with his own group, as well as with jazz greats Billy Eckstine,
Lionel Hampton, Nat Adderly, Jay McShann and others.
McPherson has recorded as guest artist with Charlie Mingus, Barry
Harris, Art Farmer, Kenny Drew, Toshiko Akiyoshi, the Carnegie Hall
Jazz Orchestra, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton
Marsalis. He has recorded as leader on Prestige, Fantasy, Mainstream,
Discovery, Xanadu, and most recently Arabesque. His most recent
recording is the highly acclaimed “Manhattan Nocturne”.
McPherson was also the featured alto saxophonist in the Clint Eastwood
film ‘Bird,’ a biography about Charlie Parker.
McPherson remains a strong, viable force on the jazz scene today.
He is at the height of his powers. His playing combines passionate
feeling with intricate patterns of improvisation. Throughout his
four decades of being an integral performer of the music, McPherson
has not merely remained true to his BOP origins, but has expanded
on them.
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