Don Cherry | Artist

Donald Eugene Cherry was an American avant-garde jazz musician born 1936 in Oklahoma City. Cherry was a pioneer in world fusion music in the 1960s and 1970s and he released several masterpiece albums of avant-garde jazz, among his vast output of recorded work. Cherry was born into a musical family and always at the centre of a vibrant jazz scene. Having moved to Los Angeles in the early '50s Cherry started playing with artists such as Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Art Farmer and Eric Dolphy. Cherry became well known in 1958 when he began performing and recording with Ornette Coleman, first in a quintet with pianist Paul Bley and later in what became the quartet which recorded for Atlantic Records. Cherry's style developed towards free harmonic structures, unlike the more syncopated structures of hard bop. He co-led The Avant-Garde session with John Coltrane, recorded and toured with Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler. His first recording as a band leader was Complete Communion for Blue Note Records in 1965. Before his death in 1995, Cherry recorded 29 studio albums and numerous live albums. His 1977 album Brown Rice, which was later rereleased as Don Cherry, is considered his masterpiece. Other standout albums include Complete Communion, Symphony for Improvisers, "mu" First Part and Eternal Rhythms. In the 1970s Cherry ventured more into world music fusion, incorporating influences of Middle Eastern, African and Indian music. From 1978 to 1982, he recorded three albums for ECM with world jazz group Codona, consisting of Cherry, percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and sitar and tabla player Collin Walcott. Cherry was stepfather to the musician Neneh Cherry.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Don_Cherry_(trumpeter)

Featured Albums: Don Cherry

Related Artists: Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Old and New Dreams, Neneh Cherry, Codona