Jean Toussaint
Jean Toussaint | |
---|---|
Toussaint in a 2007 performance. | |
Background information | |
Born | (1960-07-27) 27 July 1960 (age 63) Aruba, Dutch Antilles |
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Saxophone |
Years active | 1982–present |
Labels | Lyte BMG, World Circuit |
Website | www |
Jean Toussaint (born July 27, 1960) is an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.
Life and career
Toussaint was born in Aruba, Dutch Antilles,[1] and was raised in Saint Thomas and New York City. He learned to play calypso as a child and attended Berklee College of Music in the late 1970s, studying under Bill Pierce (saxophonist). In 1979 he formed a group with Wallace Roney and from 1982 to 1986 was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers alongside Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Mulgrew Miller and Lonnie Plaxico.[2] With Blakey he recorded three studio albums, including New York Scene, which won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance.[3]
In 1987, Toussaint moved to London, England, when he was invited to be artist-in-residence at the Guildhall School of Music by Lionel Grigson, at the time the school's professor of jazz.[4] In the late 1980s Toussaint had a regular slot at the fabled Dingwalls club in Camden Town on Sunday afternoons.[5] Since then, Toussaint has maintained a profile as a band leader in the UK and Europe, playing with British musicians including, among others, Steve Williamson, Courtney Pine, Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Cleveland Watkiss.[4] Toussaint has also performed in groups led by McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans, Kirk Lightsey, Cedar Walton, Max Roach, Horace Silver and Jeff Tain Watts. In addition he has collaborated with Lionel Loueke.
Toussaint has released 10 albums as a leader, his most recent entitled Tate Song in February 2014 with LYTE Records.[6]
In 2015/16 Toussaint devised a project dedicated to his mentor Blakey. The project was entitled "Roots & Herbs: The Blakey Project" and featured an all-star lineup of British jazz musicians, including Julian Joseph, Byron Wallen, Dennis Rollins, Jason Rebello and Shane Forbes. The group toured the UK extensively throughout 2015 / 2016.[7][8][9][10]
Discography
As leader
- Impressions of Coltrane (Fever, 1987)
- What Goes Around, (World Circuit, 1991)
- Life I Want (New Note, 1996)
- Nazaire Who's Blues (Jazz House, 1996)
- Back to Back (Jazz Focus, 1998)
- Street Above The Underground (BMG, 2000)
- Blue Black (Blue Geodesics, 2002)
- Continuum Act One (Space Time, 2004)
- Live in Paris and London (Space Time, 2010)
- Tate Song (Lyte, 2014)
With Art Blakey
- New York Scene (Concord Jazz, 1984)
- Blue Night (Timeless, 1985)
- Feeling Good (Delos, 1986)
With Kirk Lightsey
- Kirk 'n Marcus (Criss Cross Jazz, 1987) with Marcus Belgrave
References
- ^ "Jean Toussaint". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
- ^ Yanow, Scott (2012). "Jean Toussaint Biography". AllMusic review. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ Yanow, Scott (2012). "New York Scene". AllMusic review. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Jazz Conversations with Craig Milverton and Special Guest Jean Toussaint" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, recorded at the Blue Vanguard Jazz Club Exeter, August 31, 2014.
- ^ Robbie France biography
- ^ "Jean Toussaint Saxophone Legend Jean Toussaint To Release His Tenth Album With LYTE Records". Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ^ "Jean Toussaint's Roots and Herbs at CBSO Centre, Birmingham". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Jean Toussaint's Roots and Herbs Young Lions". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Jean Toussaint's Roots and Herbs at Scarborough Jazz Festival". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Jean Toussaint Interview with UK VIBE". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
External links
- "Jazz Conversations with Craig Milverton and Special Guest Jean Toussaint", recorded at the Blue Vanguard Jazz Club Exeter, August 31, 2014.
- v
- t
- e
- Dale Barlow
- Mickey Bass
- Terence Blanchard
- Joanne Brackeen
- Cameron Brown
- Donald Brown
- Bobby Broom
- Donald Byrd
- George Cables
- Buck Clarke
- Chick Corea
- Steve Davis
- Spanky DeBrest
- Sam Dockery
- Kenny Dorham
- Essiet Essiet
- Robin Eubanks
- Charles Fambrough
- Curtis Fuller
- Carlos Garnett
- John Gilmore
- Benny Golson
- Benny Green
- Johnny Griffin
- Bill Hardman
- Donald Harrison
- Philip Harper
- John Hicks
- Freddie Hubbard
- Dennis Irwin
- Javon Jackson
- Carter Jefferson
- Geoffrey Keezer
- Frank Lacy
- Brian Lynch
- Branford Marsalis
- Wynton Marsalis
- Jackie McLean
- Jymie Merritt
- Mulgrew Miller
- Hank Mobley
- Lee Morgan
- Billy Pierce
- Lonnie Plaxico
- Valery Ponomarev
- Wallace Roney
- Gregory Charles Royal
- David Schnitter
- Woody Shaw
- Clarence Seay
- Wayne Shorter
- Horace Silver
- Victor Sproles
- Bobby Timmons
- Jean Toussaint
- McCoy Tyner
- Cedar Walton
- Peter Washington
- Doug Watkins
- Bobby Watson
- James Williams
- Reggie Workman
albums
- The Jazz Messengers (1956)
- Hard Bop (1957)
- Ritual (1957)
- Selections from Lerner and Loewe's... (1957)
- Cu-Bop (1957)
- Hard Drive (1957)
- A Night in Tunisia (1958)
- Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (1958)
- Moanin' (1959)
- The Big Beat (1960)
- A Night in Tunisia (1961)
- Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (1961)
- Mosaic (1962)
- Buhaina's Delight (1963)
- Caravan (1963)
- The Freedom Rider (1964)
- Free for All (1964)
- Kyoto (1964)
- Golden Boy (1964)
- Indestructible (1965)
- 'S Make It (1965)
- Soul Finger (1965)
- Tough! (1966)
- Like Someone in Love (1967)
- The Witch Doctor (1969)
- Roots & Herbs (1970)
- Child's Dance (1972)
- Buhaina (1973)
- Anthenagin (1973)
- In Walked Sonny (1975)
- Backgammon (1976)
- Gypsy Folk Tales (1977)
- In My Prime Vol. 1 (1978)
- In My Prime Vol. 2 (1978)
- Reflections in Blue (1979)
- Night in Tunisia: Digital Recording (1979)
- Album of the Year (1981)
- Oh-By the Way (1984)
- Blue Night (1985)
- Feeling Good (1986)
- Not Yet (1988)
- I Get a Kick Out of Bu (1988)
- Chippin' In (1990)
- One for All (1990)
albums
- At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 (1956)
- At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2 (1956)
- A Midnight Session with the Jazz Messengers (1957)
- 1958 – Paris Olympia (1959)
- At the Jazz Corner of the World, Vols. 1 & 2 (1959)
- Art Blakey et les Jazz Messengers au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1960)
- Paris Jam Session (1960)
- Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World, Vols. 1 and 2 (1960)
- A Jazz Hour with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Blues March (1961)
- Three Blind Mice (1962)
- Ugetsu (1963)
- Buttercorn Lady (1966)
- Jazz Messengers '70 (1970)
- In This Korner (1978)
- Live at Montreux and Northsea (1980)
- One by One (1981)
- Art Blakey in Sweden (1981)
- Straight Ahead (1981)
- Keystone 3 (1982)
- Live at Kimball's (1985)
- The Art of Jazz: Live in Leverkusen (1989)
albums
- Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1956)
- The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (1956)
- Drum Suite (1957)
- Pisces (1979)
- Africaine (1981)
- Originally (1982)
albums
- Des Femmes Disparaissent (1959)
- Les liaisons dangereuses 1960 (1960)
solo albums
- Blakey (1954)*
- A Night at Birdland Vol. 1, Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 (1954)
- Orgy in Rhythm (1957)
- Art Blakey Big Band (1957)
- Holiday for Skins (1958)
- Drums Around the Corner (1959)
- The African Beat (1962)
- A Jazz Message (1963)
- Hold On, I'm Coming (1966)
- Killer Joe (1981)
- Bluesiana Triangle (1990)