Jimmy Rowles


James George Hunter, known professionally as Jimmy Rowles, was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. As a bandleader and accompanist, he explored multiple styles including swing and cool jazz.

Music career

Rowles was born in Spokane, Washington, and attended Gonzaga University in that city. After moving to Los Angeles, he joined Lester Young's group in 1942. He also worked with Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, and Tony Bennett, and as a studio musician.

With female singers

Rowles was praised as an accompanist by female singers. He recorded Sarah Vaughan with the Jimmy Rowles Quintet with Sarah Vaughan and accompanied Carmen McRae on her 1972 live album The Great American Songbook. McRae described Rowles as "the guy every girl singer in her right mind would like to work with".
In the 1950s and 1960s, he frequently played behind Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee. In the 1980s, he succeeded Paul Smith as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist. In late 1956 he performed with Fitzgerald at the Mocambo nightclub in Hollywood; from then on, he appeared on several recording sessions with Ella in the 1960s before joining her in 1981 for nearly three years. Rowles appeared, in 1982, on Fitzgerald's final collaboration with Nelson Riddle, The Best Is Yet to Come. His song "Baby, Don't You Quit Now", written with Johnny Mercer, was recorded on her final album, All That Jazz, released in 1989.
In 1983, Rowles worked with Diana Krall in Los Angeles, shortly after she moved from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He developed her playing abilities and encouraged her to add singing to her repertoire. In 1994, he accompanied jazz singer Jeri Brown on A Timeless Place, the only album containing only his own compositions.

Compositions

"The Peacocks" is Rowles's best known composition; it has been recorded on the 1975 album of the same name with Stan Getz, and subsequently by Gary Foster, John McLaughlin, Esperanza Spalding, Bill Evans, and other artists. Singer Norma Winstone wrote lyrics for the composition and recorded it under the title "A Timeless Place". "The Peacocks" is performed in the soundtrack of Bertrand Tavernier's movie Round Midnight.
Rowles' 1958 composition "502 Blues" gained wide exposure from Wayne Shorter's 1966 recording. "502 Blues" was subsequently included in the Real Book, a collection of jazz sheet music widely used by students and professionals when playing jam sessions and casual gigs.
Rowles's piano work was featured prominently on the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark.
In 1986 the 14th of September was declared “Jimmie Rowles Day” in Los Angeles.
Rowles died in 1996 of cardiac arrest in Burbank, California, aged 77. His daughter, Stacy, was a jazz trumpeter, singer, and flugelhornist. His son Gary played guitar with Eric Burdon and Arthur Lee's band Love.

Discography

As leader/coleader

  • 1954 Rare, But Well Done
  • 1957 Bill Harris and Friends
  • 1958 Let's Get Acquainted with Jazz
  • 1958 Weather in a Jazz Vane
  • 1959 Upper Classmen
  • 1960 Fiorello Uptown, Mary Sunshine Downtown
  • 1962 Kinda Groovy
  • 1968 Our Delight
  • 1972 Some Other Spring
  • 1974 Jazz Is a Fleeting Moment
  • 1974 The Special Magic of Jimmy Rowles
  • 1975 The Peacocks with Stan Getz
  • 1976 Grandpaws
  • 1976 Paws That Refresh ''
  • 1976 Music's the Only Thing That's on My Mind
  • 1977 Heavy Love with Al Cohn
  • 1978 Isfahan
  • 1978 Shade and Light
  • 1978 Jimmy Rowles Trio on Tour
  • 1978 We Could Make Such Beautiful Music Together
  • 1978 Nature Boy
  • 1978 Scarab
  • 1978 Red'n Me
  • 1979 Duets w Joe Newman
  • 1979 Tasty!
  • 1979 My mother's love
  • 1979 Grandpa's Vibrato
  • 1979 Ellington by Rowles
  • 1980 Jimmy Rowles in Paris
  • 1981 Plays Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
  • 1981 Profile/The music of Henri Renaud
  • 1981 Checkmate with Joe Pass
  • 1983 Peacocks with Michael Hashim
  • 1985 The ''Jimmy Rowles/Red Mitchell Trio
  • 1985 I'm Glad There Is You: Jimmy Rowles, Vol. 2
  • 1988 Looking Back
  • 1988 Sometimes I'm Happy, Sometimes I'm Blue
  • 1989 Plus 2, Plus 3, Plus 4
  • 1989 Remember When
  • 1990 Trio
  • 1994 Lilac Time
  • 1995 A Timeless Place''

As sideman

With Pepper AdamsCritics' Choice
With Louie BellsonSkin Deep Music, Romance and Especially Love
With Bob BrookmeyerBob Brookmeyer Plays Bob Brookmeyer and Some Others Back Again
With Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy Sings Carmichael
With Benny CarterJazz Giant – two tracks
With Nat King ColeL-O-V-E
With Harry EdisonSweets
With Ella FitzgeraldWhisper Not The Best Is Yet to Come All That Jazz
With Stan GetzStan Getz and the Cool Sounds The Peacocks
With Jimmy GiuffreThe Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet Ad Lib
With Woody HermanSongs for Hip Lovers
With Billie HolidaySongs for Distingué Lovers
With Barney KesselTo Swing or Not to Swing Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By Let's Cook! Some Like It Hot
With Lee KonitzTenorlee
With Julie LondonJulie Julie...At Home
With Herbie MannGreat Ideas of Western Mann The Magic Flute of Herbie Mann
With Carmen McRaeThe Great American Songbook
With Gerry MulliganGerry Mulligan Quartet Volume 1 Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster
With Mark MurphyThis Could Be the Start of Something Mark Murphy's Hip Parade Playing the Field
With Buddy RichThe Wailing Buddy Rich
With Nelson RiddleNAT: An Orchestral Portrait of Nat "King" Cole
With Pete RugoloThe Music from Richard Diamond The Original Music of Thriller 10 Saxophones and 2 Basses
With Bud ShankBud Shank - Shorty Rogers - Bill Perkins
With Zoot SimsParty If I'm Lucky For Lady Day Warm Tenor Passion Flower I Wish I Were Twins The Swinger Suddenly It's Spring Live in San Francisco 1978
With Sonny StittSonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements
With The 5th DimensionStoned Soul Picnic (The 5th Dimension album)
With Ben WebsterBen Webster at the Renaissance
With Buster WilliamsHeartbeat
With Gerald WilsonCalifornia Soul
With Phil Woods and Lew TabackinPhil Woods/Lew Tabackin
With Henry ManciniExperiment in Terror Uniquely Mancini Charade The Pink Panther The Latin Sound of Henry Mancini Mancini '67
  • ''The Party''