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Gil Melle
In the 1950s, Melle's paintings and sculptures were shown in New York galleries and he created the cover art for albums by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins. Melle played the tenor and baritone saxophone with George Wallington, Max Roach, Tal Farlow, Oscar Pettiford, Ed Thigpen, Kenny Dorham and Zoot Sims.
As a film and television composer, Melle was one of the first to use electronic instruments (which he built himself), either alone or as an added voice among the string, wind, brass, and percussion sections of the orchestra. He was the first to compose a main theme for a television series arranged entirely for electronic instruments (Rod Serling's Night Gallery).
His film credits span 125 motion pictures including My Sweet Charlie, That Certain Summer, The Andromeda Strain, The Judge and Jake Wyler, several Columbo TV movies, Frankenstein: The True Story, The Six Million Dollar Man, Night Gallery and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Melle died of a heart attack at his home in Malibu, California.
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Gil Melle – Patterns in Jazz – Blue Note 1517
by Marc Davis
Sometimes, Blue Note surprises you. Often, the Blue Note catalogue is predictable, especially in the '50s and '60s. Some say it is too predictable. But if you dive deep, there are hidden gems slightly off the beaten hard-bop path. Case in point: Gil Melle's Patterns in Jazz. West Coast jazz was never at home at Blue Note. Stan Getz and Dave Brubeck did not record here. But Gil Melle did, briefly, before he went ...
read moreGil Melle: Complete Blue Note 50's Sessions
by John Sharpe
This wonderful 2-CD set by saxophonist Gil Melle is one of six titles released as part of Blue Note's new Connoisseur 10" series. The set consists of four 10" LPs and the one 12" LP (Patterns In Jazz) Gil recorded for the label. These extremely rare sessions contain a mix of straight bop, a number of standards and many of Melle's unique third stream compositions. Melle's use of a guitar (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca and Joe Cinderella) in place of ...
read moreBackgrounder: Gil Mellé's 1950s Blue Note Sessions
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Last week, following my post on guitarist Lou Mecca, I heard from many readers who were unfamiliar with Gil Mellé and wanted to hear more. The place to start with Mellé are his 1950s recordings for Blue Note. As a foootnote, his first—New Faces, New Sounds: Quintet/Sextet, a 10-inch album—was the first to be recorded on tape at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, N.J. In all, Mellé recorded five Blue Note albums between 1952 and 1956—New Faces, New Sounds: ...
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Gil Mellé: Blue Note Years
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Gil Mellé was a fascinating saxophonist and composer. Not widely known today, Mellé [pronounced MELL-ay] was a renaissance man. He played tenor and baritone saxophone, he was a painter, an inventor, he wrote film scores and he led groups. Jazz was a passion, and he worked hard to develop a sound—not an overarching one that identified him but a sound that suited his compositions. All of Mellé's Blue Note recordings are available on a fabulous two-CD set: Gil Mellé: The ...
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Denny Melle on Husband Gil
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back in January, I posted about baritone saxophonist Gil Melle and his Blue Note and Prestige sessions. For the post, I spoke with Hal McKusick, who played with him, and Raymond De Felitta, who grew up down the block from the Melle house in Hollywood. Both Hal and Raymond shed light on the visionary saxophonist, composer, artist, designer and inventor. In fact, all of the Blue Note album covers in this post were designed by Melle. Last week, I received ...
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Gil Melle: Blue Note and Prestige
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the 1950s, there were jazz musicians who lived so far into the future intellectually that other musicians from the period called them “far out." Gil Melle was one of those “out of sight" artists. But to merely refer to Melle (pronounced Mell-AY) as a jazz baritone saxophonist doesn't fully explain this creative dynamo who today is largely forgotten. In addition to recording fascinating albums of atonal and linear jazz for Blue Note and Prestige between 1952 and 1957, Melle ...
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Saxophonist Gil Melle Dies At 73
Source:
All About Jazz
Gil Melle, the baritone saxophonist, composer, painter, and all around Renaissance man, died yesterday of a heart attack at his home in Malibu, California. He was 73 years old. Melle was born on the last day of 1931 in New York City and began painting and playing the saxophone at an early age. When only 19 years old, he was signed to Blue Note Records by label founder Alfred Lion, becoming the first white artist on the storied jazz label. ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson
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Instrument: Saxophone
Born: December 31, 1931
Died: October 28, 2004
