- Chuck Israels
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Chuck Israels Birth name Charles H. Israels Born 10 August 1936 Genres Jazz, bebop, cool jazz Occupations Double bassist, composer/arranger Instruments Double bass Charles H. "Chuck" Israels (born August 10, 1936) is a composer, arranger, and bassist who is best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. He has also worked with Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, J. J. Johnson, John Coltrane and many others.
Biography
Chuck Israels was raised in a musical family. His stepfather, Mordecai Bauman is a singer who performed extensively with composer Hanns Eisler and who, along with Chuck's mother, Irma Commanday, created a home environment in which music was a part of normal daily activity. Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger and The Weavers were visitors to the Bauman home and the appearance of Louis Armstrong's All Stars in a concert series produced by his parents in 1948 gave Chuck his first opportunity to meet and hear jazz musicians.
Israels is best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1961 through 1966 and for his pioneering accomplishments in Jazz Repertory as Director of the National Jazz Ensemble from 1973 to 1981. Afterwards, he became less active as a musician, but did record with the Kronos String Quartet in 1984 and Rosemary Clooney in 1985. He was the Director of Jazz Studies at Western Washington University in Bellingham until 2010, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.[1]
Among Chuck's many recordings as a bassist, some outstanding ones include: Coltrane Time, with John Coltrane; My Point of View, with Herbie Hancock; Getz au Go-Go, with Stan Getz; and many recordings with the Bill Evans Trio, including Bill Evans at Town Hall, The Second Trio, Trio '65, Live at the Trident, Time Remembered and At Shelly's Manne-Hole.
Reference
External links
Categories:- American jazz double-bassists
- American jazz composers
- American music arrangers
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni
- Guggenheim Fellows
- Jewish American musicians
- Living people
- 1936 births
- Western Washington University faculty
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