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Woody Shaw | |
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![]() Shaw, c. 1978 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Woody Herman Shaw Jr. |
Born | Laurinburg, North Carolina, United States | December 24, 1944
Origin | Newark, New Jersey, United States |
Died | May 10, 1989 Manhattan, New York City, United States | (aged 44)
Genres | Jazz, bebop, hard bop, post-bop, modal jazz, avant-garde jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, composer, educator |
Instrument(s) | Trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet |
Years active | 1963–1989 |
Labels | Columbia, Muse, Elektra, Blue Note, Fantasy, Contemporary, Concord Music Group |
Website | woodyshaw |
Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989)[1] was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influential jazz trumpeters and composers. He is often credited with revolutionizing the technical and harmonic language of modern jazz trumpet playing, and is regarded by many as one of the major innovators of the instrument. He was an acclaimed virtuoso, mentor, and spokesperson for jazz and worked and recorded alongside many of the leading musicians of his time.[2][3]
Shaw reached a level of expressiveness, headlong linear development and freedom from post-bop conventions that was not only ahead of his time; this music from three and four decades ago is ahead of much of the rote, formulaic jazz of our time. The Mosaic box set makes it clear to what an extent Shaw was at once a liberator of the music and a preserver of tradition.