Jimmy Giuffre

Vocation

American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation. During the 1950s Giuffre was a central figure in West Coast jazz and cool jazz, predominantly playing tenor and baritone saxophone. In 1961, he formed a trio with piano player Paul Bley and Steve Swallow on double bass, and also began to focus his attention largely on the clarinet. They explored free jazz with a hushed, quiet focus resembling chamber music. The trio's explorations of melody, harmony and rhythm are still as striking and radical as any in jazz. In the early 1970s, Giuffre formed a new trio with bassist Kiyoshi Tokunaga and drummer Randy Kaye. This group recorded three albums for the Italian Soul Note label. During the 1970s, Giuffre headed New York University’s jazz ensemble. Through the mid-1990s he taught at the New England Conservatory of Music. He had Parkinson's Disease and died of pneumonia in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on 24 April 2008. Link to Wikipedia biography