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Victor Feldman
Victor Feldman was born in Edgware, Middlesex in 1934. He caused a sensation as a musical prodigy when he was "discovered" at age 7. His family were all musical and his father founded the Feldman Swing Club in London in 1942 to showcase his talented son. His first professional appearance was playing drums at No 1 Rhythm Club as a member of the Feldman Trio with brothers Robert on clarinet and Monty on piano accordion. In 1944 he was featured at a concert with Glenn Miller's AAAF band, featured inevitably as "Kid Krupa". Carlo Krahmer encouraged Feldman to play the vibes which he did first in the Ralph Sharon Sextet and later in the Roy Fox band. He worked in India in 1952 and 1953 in a band led by pianist Eddie Carroll. His vibraphone and conga drum playing were notable, but it was as a pianist that he became best known. Before leaving the U.K. in 1955 to work in the U.S., Feldman recorded with Ronnie Scott's orchestra and quintet from 1954 to 1955, which also featured other important British jazz musicians such as Phil Seamen and Hank Shaw, among others. It was Scott who recommended that Feldman emigrate to the U.S., which he did in 1957. Once there, his first steady work was with the Woody Herman Herd. From there he went on to join Buddy DeFranco. He recorded with many different jazz artists, including Benny Goodman, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley and Read more
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Shelly Manne and His Men at the Black Hawk 1
by Richard J Salvucci
For many years, but certainly for most of the '50s and '60s, the top jazz drummer--by public opinion--was Shelly Manne. Although he was typically associated with West Coast Jazz, (a term he disliked), Manne had come West from jny:New York City in the '50s and settled in jny:Los Angeles in the halcyon days of the post-war boom. He was a guy of many parts; he raised horses, had married an ex-Rockette, and become part-owner of what was to become the ...
read moreSonny Rollins: Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums
by Richard J Salvucci
Apparently, the median age of a jazz listener is in his or her mid to late 40s. So, perhaps, the representative listener was born in the mid-1970s. Sonny Rollins first recorded in 1949. The recordings reviewed here were made in the late 1950s, well before many contemporary listeners were born. While there have been ample reissues of Rollins' work, most coincided with the still-active phase of his career. Much of his work has appeared since Skylark" on The Next Album ...
read moreLeroy Vinnegar: Leroy Vinnegar Walks
by Richard J Salvucci
Chances are good that the name of bassist Leroy Vinnegar does not ring much of a bell among contemporary audiences. He does not have the cachet of a Ray Brown or an Oscar Pettiford, two names that a lot of professional bassists will instantly recognize, along with Scott LaFaro, with whom Vinnegar all too briefly overlapped. It is a bit surprising, although no one ever claimed that Vinnegar was a revolutionary. He was clearly in the ...
read moreVictor Feldman: Good Vibes (and Great Piano) from Britain
by Samuel Chell
In the mid-1950s, Victor Feldman was among the first British musicians successfully to relocate to the US, when he settled in Los Angeles. Becoming an outstanding West Coast" pianist, Feldman was also a memorable vibraphonist. Reissues of three albums recorded in the US from 1957-61 showcase his abundant talent.
Victor Feldman The Arrival of Victor FeldmanOriginal Jazz Classics 1998 (1958)
Although it might have been even better with fewer tunes and longer ...
read moreVictor Feldman - Part 5: The Final Years, 1978-87
by Steven Cerra
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5Looking back to 1978, it's hard to believe that in less than 10 years, Victor would no longer be with us.Woody Herman was never out of Victor's musical life. His career in the States had begun when he joined Woody's band and he often expressed his gratitude to the Old Man for making it all happen for him. Victor once shared with me:
read moreVictor Feldman - Part 4: The Artful Dodger, 1967-1977
by Steven Cerra
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 During the decade in question, due to the responsibilities of establishing myself in a career outside of music and because of the obligations of a growing family, I did not see Victor as often. Fortunately for me, he did appear regularly with his quartet at Donte's, a nightclub in North Hollywood that was a short drive from my home in nearby Burbank, ...
read moreVictor Feldman - Part 3: Miles & Beyond
by Steven Cerra
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 His keyboard technique is above reproach and is matched by his brilliance on vibes and drums; his knowledge of rhythms and meters, and the possibilities inherent in combining melodic lines with percussion expressions, greatly expounds the sounds of any group within which he works." (Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner) These eloquently phrased words of high praise for Victor Feldman were ...
read moreThe Arrival of Victor Feldman
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Night Lights Classic Jazz
Multi-instrumentalist Victor Feldman was a musical prodigy who sat in on drums with Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band at the age of 10 and was hailed by the English press as “Kid Krupa.” After continuing his rise to fame in the 1950s British jazz world, Feldman moved to America and eventually made his way to the West Coast jazz scene. We’ll hear the records he made both as a sideman and a leader, playing piano and vibes with Cannonball ...
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