music.wikisort.org - Composer

John Graas (March 14, 1917 – April 13, 1962) was an American jazz French horn player, composer, and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz.[1]

John Graas
Born	(1917-03-14)March 14, 1917 Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.
Died	April 13, 1962(1962-04-13) (aged 45) Los Angeles, California
Genres	Jazz, third stream
Occupation(s)	Musician Composer Arranger
Instrument(s)	French horn
Years active	1941–1962
Labels	Trend, Decca, VSOP

Music career

Graas was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 14, 1917.[2][3] He was educated in classical music and attended Tanglewood Music Center, where he performed under the tutelage of Serge Koussevitsky. He soon became interested in jazz and studied ways to bring jazz and classical music together, an early effort at what would later be called Third Stream music. Following the path of his dual interests, he was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (1941), the Claude Thornhill Orchestra (1942), the Army Air Corps band during World War II (1942–1945), the Cleveland Orchestra (1945–1946), the Tex Beneke Orchestra (1946–1949), and the Stan Kenton Orchestra (1950–1953).[3]

The 1950s were a period of intense activity by Graas, as performer, composer, and arranger. Besides groups under his own name, he appeared in the musical aggregations of Shorty Rogers, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Billy May, Pete Rugolo, Mel Lewis, and others. The 1960s began with equal intensity, including recordings with Henry Mancini, Bobby Darin, Heinie Beau, and others, until his career was cut short by his death of a heart attack, at age 45, in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles.[3][4]

Discography

As leader

• John Graas (Trend, 1953)
• Jazz Studio 2 (Decca, 1954)
• French Horn Jazz (Trend, 1954)
• Jazz Studio 3 (Decca, 1955)
• Jazz Lab 1 (Decca, 1956)
• Jazz Lab 2 (Decca, 1957)
• French Horn Jazz (Kapp, 1957)
• Jazzmantics (Lone Hill, 1958)
• John Graas! (Mercury, 1958)
• International Premiere in Jazz (VSOP, 1958)
• Coup de Graas (1959)[5]

As sideman

With Benny Carter

• Cosmopolite (Norgran, 1954)

With Stan Kenton

• Innovations in Modern Music (Capitol, 1950)
• Stan Kenton Presents (Capitol, 1950)
• Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1953)
• This Modern World (Capitol, 1953)
• The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1940–54, [1955])

With Gerry Mulligan

• Gene Norman Presents the Original Gerry Mulligan Tentet and Quartet (GNP, 1953 [1997])

With Shorty Rogers

• Modern Sounds (Capitol, 1951)
• Shorty Rogers and His Giants (RCA Victor, 1953)
• Cool and Crazy (RCA Victor, 1953)
• Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (RCA Victor, 1954)
• Martians Come Back! (Atlantic, 1955 [1956])
• Way Up There (Atlantic, 1955 [1957])

With Pete Rugolo

• Introducing Pete Rugolo (Columbia, 1954)
• Adventures in Rhythm (Columbia, 1954)
• Rugolomania (Columbia, 1955)
• New Sounds by Pete Rugolo (Harmony, 1954–55, [1957])
• Percussion at Work (EmArcy, 1957)

Notes

References

• Feather, Leonard. The Encyclopedia of Jazz (Horizon Press, 1960)
• Flanagan, John. Liner notes, Jack Sheldon: Complete College Goes to Jazz; Featuring John Graas (Lone Hill Jazz, 2004)

На других языках

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[de] John Graas

John Jacob Graas (* 14. Oktober 1924 in Dubuque, Iowa; † 13. April 1962 in Van Nuys, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Jazz-Waldhornist, Arrangeur und Komponist. Sein Verdienst war es, gemeinsam mit Dave Amram das Waldhorn als Soloinstrument in den Modern Jazz eingeführt zu haben.

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- [en] John Graas

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[es] John Graas

John Graas fue un trompista, arreglista, compositor y director de orquesta de jazz norteamericano. Nació en Dubuque (Iowa), el 14 de octubre de 1924, y falleció en Van Nuys (California), el 13 de abril de 1962, a los 37 años de edad, de un ataque al corazón.[1]

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