Woody Shaw Musician – All About Jazz - Philadelphia Jazz Experience

Woody Shaw, Jr. was born in Laurinburg, N.C. onDecember 24th, 1944 to Rosalie Pegues Shaw andWoody Shaw, Sr. He grew up in Newark, New Jersey,and began playing trumpet at the age of 11. Shawattended Arts High School in Newark where he studiedtrumpet and music theory with Jerome Ziering. Newarkhas a rich Jazz history and many notable Jazz artists areoriginally from there, including Sarah Vaughan, WayneShorter, Eddie Gladden, Larry Young, and GrachanMoncur III. His first and perhaps greatest inspiration, interms of the trumpet, came from listening to LouisArmstrong and, not long after, Clifford Brown.

Woody found out later that he had picked up the trumpetduring the same month and year that Brown passedaway. This was an auspicious sign for him and he felt thatthere was a “higher” reason for this; that it confirmed adeeper connection and purpose regarding his placewithin the lineage of the trumpet masters. His otherprimary influences were, of course, Dizzy Gillespie, FatsNavarro, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Booker Little,Freddie Hubbard, and Lee Morgan. Woody particularlyfelt a strong connection to Dizzy because of the fact thathis father (Woody, Sr.) and Dizzy had gone to highschool together at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina.Woody Shaw, Sr. had been a Gospel singer with theDiamond Jubilee Singers in the 1930s.

In 1963, after many local professional jobs, Woodyworked for Willie Bobo (with Chick Corea and Joe Farrell)and also performed and recorded as a sideman with EricDolphy. The following year, Dolphy invited Shaw to joinhim in Paris, however, Dolphy suddenly died shortlybefore Shaw’s departure. He decided to make the tripnonetheless, and found steady work in Paris with closefriend Nathan Davis and such musicians as Bud Powell,Kenny Clarke, Johnny Griffin, and Art Taylor.

In 1963 Woody performed frequently in Paris, Berlin, andLondon with a group that included Nathan Davis, LarryYoung, and Billy Brooks. Young, Brooks, and Shaw werechildhood friends back in Newark, and they would furtherdevelop their rapport as friends and as musicians whenShaw finally brought them to France that same year. Thefollowing year, Shaw returned to the U.S. to play inHorace Silver’s quintet (1965-1966) and eventuallyrecorded with Chick Corea (1966-1967), Jackie McLean(1967), Booker Ervin (1968), McCoy Tyner (1968), andAndrew Hill (1969). In 1968-69 he worked intermittentlywith Max Roach, with whom he appeared at a festival inIran, and during the same period he began to work as astudio musician and in pit orchestras for Broadwaymusicals.

Thereafter, Woody continued to record with people suchas Pharaoh Sanders, Hank Mobley, Gary Bartz, andArchie Shepp, and eventually formed a quintet with JoeHenderson in 1970 (also his fellow frontline-man inHorace Silver’s group), which featured George Cables,Lenny White, and Ron Carter. From (1971-1973) Shawheld an important engagement with Art Blakey and theJazz Messengers, recording three albums for FantasyRecords (“Child’s Dance,” “Buhaina,” and “Anthenagain”)before finally settling in San Fransisco, where he co-led agroup with Bobby Hutcherson, soon after recording onHutcherson’s albums: “Live at Montreux” and “Cirrus”(both on Blue Note).