Victor Feldman


Victor Stanley Feldman was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as an adult. Feldman emigrated to the United States in the mid-1950s, where he continued working in jazz and also as a session musician with a variety of pop and rock performers.

Early life

Feldman was born in Edgware on 7 April 1934. He caused a sensation as a musical prodigy when he was "discovered", aged seven. His family were all musical and his father founded the Feldman Swing Club in London in 1942 to showcase his talented sons. Feldman performed from a young age: "from 1941 to 1947 he played drums in a trio with his brothers; when he was nine he took up piano and when he was 14 started playing vibraphone". He featured in the films King Arthur Was a Gentleman and Theatre Royal. In 1944, he was featured at a concert with Glenn Miller's AAAF band, as "Kid Krupa". He also "took a prominent role in the musical Piccadilly Hayride".

Professional life and career

His drums teacher Carlo Krahmer encouraged Feldman to play the vibraphone, which he did first in the Ralph Sharon Sextet and later in the Roy Fox band. Feldman played with Vic Lewis and Ted Heath. Feldman played with Sharon from late 1949 to 1951, including performances in Switzerland. There were further overseas trips with Ronnie Scott, and Harry Parry. He also played with Parry in the UK from October 1953 to January 1954. From 1954, when he recorded with Jimmy Deuchar, and played again with Scott, "he was working mainly as a pianist and vibraphonist; his early vibraphone playing showed the influence of Milt Jackson".
He was a notable percussionist, but it was as a pianist and vibraphone player that he became best known.
Before leaving the UK to work in the US, 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. It was Scott who recommended that Feldman emigrate to the US, which he did in 1955. Once there, his first steady work was with the Woody Herman Herd. He had frequent return trips to the UK over the following years. His eight-week visit in 1956–57 included studio recording sessions and club appearances. After Herman he joined Buddy DeFranco for a short time. In 1958, he had his own working band on the west coast, which included the innovative bassist Scott LaFaro. His 1958 album The Arrival of Victor Feldman includes LaFaro and Stan Levey on drums. He recorded with many jazz artists, including Benny Goodman, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis, most notably on Davis' 1963 album Seven Steps to Heaven, the title tune being his own composition. Davis invited Feldman to join his group full-time, but Feldman declined, preferring the stability of studio work to the career of a touring musician. The 5-CD Shelly Manne Black Hawk set, originally released on LP in September 1959, is a good representation of Feldman's unmistakable driving comping behind the soloists, helping to define the session as a valuable hard bop genre element.
In 1957, Feldman settled in Los Angeles permanently and then specialised in lucrative session work for the US film and recording industry, with the exception of joining the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1960-61. Feldman's vibraphone soloing is featured extensively on the Grammy Award-winning The Music from Peter Gunn, with AllMusic writing, "There's some particularly impressive work by drummer Shelly Manne and vibes player Victor Feldman, whose cool, understated playing seems to deliberately recall that of Milt Jackson."
He also branched out to work with a variety of musicians outside of jazz, recording with artists such as Frank Zappa in 1967, Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell in the 1970s and Tom Waits and Joe Walsh in the 1980s. Feldman appeared on all seven Steely Dan albums released in the 1970s and 1980s in the band's first incarnation.
Feldman died of a heart attack in 1987 at his home in Los Angeles, aged 53, following an asthma attack.
In 2009, he was inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

Discography

As sideman

With David AcklesSubway to the Country
With Arthur AdamsI Love Love Love My Lady
With Pepper AdamsCalifornia Cookin'
With Cannonball AdderleyCannonball Adderley and the Poll Winners The Cannonball Adderley Quintet at the Lighthouse The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Plus Live in Europe Paris 1960
With Nat AdderleyA Little New York Midtown Music
With Alessi BrothersAlessi Long Time Friends
With Peter AllenI Could Have Been a Sailor Not the Boy Next Door
With Gregg Allman BandPlayin' Up a Storm
With Curtis AmyWay Down
With Patti AustinPatti Austin
With Hoyt AxtonSouthbound
With The Beach BoysL.A. (Light Album)
With The Beau BrummelsThe Beau Brummels
With Beaver & KrauseAll Good Men
With Bob BennettNon-Fiction
With Stephen BishopCareless
With Bobby BlandReflections in Blue
With Blue MagicMessage from the Magic
With Karla BonoffWild Heart of the Young
With Terence BoylanTerence Boylan Suzy
With Teresa BrewerMusic, Music, Music
With Toni BrownToni Brown
With Solomon BurkeElectronic Magnetism
With Kim CarnesSt. Vincent's Court
With Valerie CarterWild Child
With Johnny CashJohn R. Cash
With David CassidyDreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes
With Chad and JeremyThe Ark
With Kerry ChaterPart Time Love Love on a Shoestring
With CherI'd Rather [Believe in You] Cher Prisoner
With James ClayA Double Dose of Soul
With Rita CoolidgeNever Let You Go
With Bob CooperCoop! The Music of Bob Cooper
With Jerry CorbettaJerry Corbetta
With Christopher CrossChristopher Cross
With DalbelloPretty Girls
With Miles DavisSeven Steps to Heaven
With Kiki DeeStay with Me
With Buddy DeFrancoBlues Bag
With Jackie DeShannonNew Arrangement
With Cliff De YoungCliff De Young
With Neil DiamondHeartlight
With The 5th DimensionLove's Lines, Angles and Rhymes
With Dion DiMucciStreetheart
With Ned DohenyHard Candy
With The Doobie BrothersStampede Livin' on the Fault Line
With Charlie DoreListen!
With Billy EckstineThe Modern Sound of Mr. B
With Yvonne EllimanYvonne
With The EmotionsSunbeam
With Phil EverlyStar Spangled Springer
With The Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers Sing
With José FelicianoFeliciano/10 to 23 Romance in the Night
With The FloatersFloat Into the Future
With Four TopsKeeper of the Castle Night Lights Harmony
With Michael FranksObjects of Desire
With The Free MovementI've Found Someone of My Own
With Glenn FreyThe Allnighter
With Richie FurayDance a Little Light
With Ted GärdestadBlue Virgin Isles
With Terry GarthwaiteHand in Glove
With Marvin GayeLet's Get It On
With Amy GrantA Christmas Album
With Cyndi GreccoMaking Our Dreams Come True
With Lani HallBlush
With Albert HammondAlbert Hammond
With Woody HermanAt the Monterey Jazz Festival
With Dan HillIf Dreams Had Wings
With Paul HornImpressions of Cleopatra
With Thelma HoustonI've Got the Music in Me
With Paul JabaraKeeping Time The Third Album
With Milt JacksonMemphis Jackson
With Al JarreauJarreau
With Elton John21 at 33 The Fox
With J. J. JohnsonA Touch of Satin Concepts in Blue
With Plas JohnsonThis Must Be the Plas
With Jack JonesHarbour With One More Look at You
With Quincy JonesThe Hot Rock OST Roots
With Rickie Lee JonesRickie Lee Jones Pirates Girl at Her Volcano The Magazine
With Sam JonesThe Chant
With Thomas Jefferson KayeThomas Jefferson Kaye First Grade
With The Keane BrothersThe Keane Brothers
With Stan KentonHair
With Barney KesselCarmen Let's Cook!
With B.B. KingL.A. Midnight
With Bobby KingBobby King
With John KlemmerWaterfalls Intensity
With Gladys KnightMiss Gladys Knight
With Nicolette LarsonNicolette In the Nick of Time
With Peggy LeeIf You Go Then Was Then – Now Is Now! Make It With You Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota Mirrors
With Ketty LesterKetty Lester
With Gordon LightfootShadows
With LuluLulu
With Mary MacGregor...In Your Eyes
With Henry ManciniThe Music from Peter Gunn
With Harvey MandelRighteous
With Shelly ManneShelly Manne & His Men Play Peter Gunn Son of Gunn!! At the Black Hawk 1 At the Black Hawk 2 At the Black Hawk 3 At the Black Hawk 4 My Son the Jazz Drummer! Daktari At the Black Hawk 5
With Jon MarkSongs for a Friend
With Gene McDanielsNatural Juices
With Bobby McFerrinBobby McFerrin
With Kate & Anna McGarriglePronto Monto
With Carmen McRaeCan't Hide Love
With Randy MeisnerRandy Meisner
With MelaniePhotograph Seventh Wave
With Jim MessinaMessina
With Stephanie MillsMerciless
With Liza MinnelliTropical Nights
With Adam MitchellRedhead in Trouble
With Blue MitchellStablemates
With Joni MitchellThe Hissing of Summer Lawns Hejira Wild Things Run Fast
With The MiraclesCity of Angels
With The MonkeesInstant Replay
With Melba MoorePeach Melba
With Maria MuldaurSweet Harmony Open Your Eyes
With Michael Martin MurpheyFlowing Free Forever Lone Wolf The Heart Never Lies
With Anne MurrayTogether Where Do You Go When You Dream
With Oliver NelsonZig Zag
With Michael NesmithThe Wichita Train Whistle Sings
With Randy NewmanBorn Again
With Olivia Newton-JohnTotally Hot Physical
With Wayne NewtonDaddy Don't You Walk So Fast While We're Still Young She Believes in Me
With Nielsen PearsonNielsen/Pearson
With Kenny NolanA Song Between Us
With Alan O'DayAppetizers Oh Johnny!
With PagesPages
With Freda PayneOut of Payne Comes Love
With Leslie PearlWords & Music
With Art Pepper and Zoot SimsArt 'n' Zoot
With Esther PhillipsAll About Esther
With Sam PhillipsDancing with Danger
With PocoHead over Heels
With June PointerBaby Sister
With Jean-Luc Ponty and Frank ZappaKing Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
With Billy PrestonPressin' On
With Lou RawlsLove All Your Blues Away
With Helen ReddyMusic, Music
With Della ReeseDella on Strings of Blue I Gotta Be Me...This Trip Out Let Me in Your Life
With Minnie RipertonMinnie
With Rockie RobbinsI Believe in Love
With Kenny Rogers and Dolly PartonOnce Upon a Christmas
With Sonny RollinsSonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders
With Brenda RussellBrenda Russell
With Evie SandsEstate Of Mind Suspended Animation
With Leo SayerHere
With Boz ScaggsDown Two Then Left
With Lalo SchifrinGone with the Wave
With Seals and CroftsSeals & Crofts Year of Sunday The Longest Road
With Bud ShankGirl in Love Bud Shank Plays Music from Today's Movies Magical Mystery
With Carly SimonAnother Passenger
With Patrick SimmonsArcade
With Frank SinatraMoonlight Sinatra Strangers in the Night That's Life Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim Sinatra & Company
With The Singers UnlimitedFeeling Free A Special Blend
With O. C. SmithTogether
With David SoulBand of Friends
With Dusty SpringfieldCameo
With Candi StatonYoung Hearts Run Free House of Love
With Steely DanCan't Buy a Thrill Countdown to Ecstasy Pretzel Logic Katy Lied The Royal Scam Aja FM (No Static at All) Gaucho
With Foster SylversFoster Sylvers
With The SylversNew Horizons
With James TaylorGorilla In the Pocket
With Livingston TaylorMan's Best Friend
With Willie TeeAnticipation
With Three Dog NightComing Down Your Way
With Mel TorméBack in Town
With The Manhattan TransferPastiche Mecca for Moderns
With Gino VannelliBrother to Brother
With Leroy VinnegarLeroy Walks! Leroy Walks Again!!!
With Tom WaitsHeartattack and Vine Swordfishtrombones
With Narada Michael WaldenAwakening
With Wendy WaldmanThe Main Refrain
With Joe WalshThere Goes the Neighborhood
With Dionne WarwickLove at First Sight Friends in Love
With Wayne WatsonMan in the Middle
With Jimmy WebbAngel Heart
With The WhispersLove Is Where You Find It
With Deniece WilliamsSong Bird
With Joe WilliamsWith Love
With Lenny WilliamsTaking Chances
With Paul WilliamsHere Comes Inspiration
With Gerald WilsonFeelin' Kinda Blues On Stage The Golden Sword
With Renn WoodsOut of the Woods
With Betty WrightBetty Wright
With The YoungbloodsElephant Mountain
With Frank Zappa