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John Graas

John Graas was an American jazz French horn player, composer and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz.

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285
Album Review

John Graas: Jazz Studio 1/2: Complete Sessions

Read "Jazz Studio 1/2: Complete Sessions" reviewed by David Rickert


Why isn't John Graas more well-known as a jazz musician? Partly because he spent his time on the West Coast in and out of studio bands, recording infrequently with jazz bands or leading his own sessions. It could also be that his chosen instrument, the French horn, is the awkward kid standing off to the side at the dance as far as jazz instruments go. Or maybe it's because he died at the age of thirty-seven, before he could really ...

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Video / DVD

West Coast Jazz Horror

West Coast Jazz Horror

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

There's only one film I know of that includes French hornist John Graas (right). As you may recall, I posted on Graas back on April 24. The film is Dementia, better known as Daughter of Horror. Completed in 1953, the film wasn't released until '55, thanks to nettlesome issues with Hollywood censors. The expressionist film was directed by John Parker and starred Adrienne Barrett. Comedian Shelly Berman can be seen as a stoned beatnik toward the end, and Marni Nixon ...

Video / DVD

John Graas: French Horn Jazz

John Graas: French Horn Jazz

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, the French horn in jazz dates back to 1921. By the 1930s, the instrument was popping up on recordings by Bing Crosby and Woody Herman. In the 1940s, Artie Shaw, Claude Thornhill, Harry James and other bandleaders included the horn when they added strings. Neal Hefti used Vincent Jacobs on French horn when he recorded Repetition with Charlie Parker in 1947. Junior Collins was on the horn during Miles Davis's “Birth of the Cool" ...

112

Recording

John Graas: Complete '50s Sessions

John Graas: Complete '50s Sessions

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

What's surprising about the French horn isn't that it became a jazz instrument but that there were so many fine jazz players in the late 1940s and '50s. Among the best were Junior Collins, Julius Watkins, David Amram, John Cave, Willie Ruff, Tony Miranda, Jimmy Buffington and Gunther Schuller. But perhaps the finest of them all was John Graas [pictured]. It's his mellow bellow that stands out in many of the best West Coat jazz orchestras, particularly in bands led ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Jazz Studio 1/2:...

Lone Hill Jazz
2007

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Westlake Bounce - The...

Challenge Jazz
2004

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International...

Challenge Jazz
1985

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Coup De Graas

Challenge Jazz
1958

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John Graas!

Challenge Jazz
1958

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Jazz Lab 2

Challenge Jazz
1957

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Videos

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