- Bunky Green
Bunky Green is a
jazz musician and educator. BornApril 23 ,1935 , he was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, where he played the altosaxophone , mainly at a local club called "The Brass Rail." Director of the Jazz studies program at theUniversity of North Florida inJacksonville since the early 1990s.Background
His first big break came when he was hired in
New York City byCharles Mingus as a replacement forJackie McLean in the 1960s. His brief stint with the eccentric bass player made a deep impression. Mingus' sparing use of notation and his belief that there was no such thing as a wrong note had a lasting influence on Green's own style.The next year, Green moved to
Chicago, Illinois , where he appeared with several prominent players includingSonny Stitt ,Louie Bellson ,Andrew Hill ,Yusef Lateef , andIra Sullivan . Originally strongly influenced byCharlie Parker , Green spent a period reassessing his style and studying, emerging with a highly distinctive sound that has deeply influenced a number of younger saxophonists, includingSteve Coleman andGreg Osby .Green gradually withdrew from the public eye to develop a career as a leading jazz educator. He taught at
Chicago State University from 1972-1989, and in the 1990s took up the directorship of thejazz studies program at theUniversity of North Florida in Jacksonville where he still teaches today. He has also served a term as the president of theInternational Association for Jazz Education and been elected to the Jazz Education Hall of Fame.Green recorded several fine albums during the 1960s, including "Step High" (featuring Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb), "Playing for Keeps", and "Soul in the Night" (which paired Bunky with
Sonny Stitt ). In addition to a handful of records as a leader on the Vanuguard label during the 1970s, he also recorded several albums withElvin Jones , including "Summit Meeting" and "Time Capsule". His 1989 session on the Delos label, "Healing the Pain," commemorates the death of his parents and was awarded the coveted 5 star rating fromDown Beat Magazine . Green's most recent studio album, "Another Place" (which features the rhythm section ofJason Moran ,Lonnie Plaxico , and Nasheet Waits), also received a 5 star review fromDown Beat Magazine .elected Discography
As a Leader
* "Step High" (also known as "My Baby") (1960, Exodus)
* "Testifyin' Time" (1965, Argo)
* "Playin' for Keeps" (1966, Cadet)
* "The Latinization of Bunky Green" (1967, Cadet)
* "Transformations" (1977, Vanguard)
* "Visions" (1978, Vanguard)
* "Places We've Never Been" (1979, Vanguard)
* "In Love Again" (1987, Mark)
* "Healing the Pain" (1989, Delos)
* "Another Place" (2006, Label Bleu)
* "The Salzau Quartet Live at Jazz Baltica" (2008, Traumton Records)Elvin Jones
* "Time Capsule"
* "Summit Meeting"Clark Terry
* "Having Fun"
* "Summit Meeting"Travis Shook
* "Travis Shook"Sonny Stitt
* "Soul in the Night"
* "Stitt Goes Green"Eddie Harris
* "Lost Album Plus the Better Half"References
* [http://entertainment.lycos.com/music/discography.php?id=Green%2C+Bunky= Lycos Music Discography, Bunky Green]
* [http://entertainment.lycos.com/music/artist_bio.php?id=Green%2C+Bunky= Lycos Music Biography, Bunky Green]
* [http://www.unf.edu/coas/music/faculty.html= Faculty listings U. of N. Florida, Bunky Green]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.