Дон Габриэль Пуллен: Американдық джаз сазгерінің өмірі мен шығармашылығы

American jazz pianist and organist

Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great variety of his body of work makes it difficult to pigeonhole his musical style.

Pullen was and raised in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Growing up in a musical family, he learned the piano at an early age. A graduate of Lucy Addison High School, Pullen played in the school's band. He played with the choir in his local church and was heavily influenced by his cousin, Clyde "Fats" Wright, who was a professional jazz pianist. He took some lessons in classical piano and knew little of jazz. At this time, he was mainly aware of church music and the blues. Pullen left Roanoke for Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina to study for a medical career, but soon he realized that his true vocation was music. After playing with local musicians and being exposed for the first time to albums of the major jazz musicians and composers, he abandoned his medical studies. He set out to make a career in music, desirous of playing like Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy.

In 1964, he went to Chicago, Illinois, for a few weeks, where he encountered Muhal Richard Abrams' philosophy of making music.) to publish the result as two LPs. These were the first records to bear Pullen's name, second to Graves'. Although not greatly known in the United States, these avant garde albums were well received in Europe, most copies being sold there. In 2020, Corbett vs. Dempsey released the contents of both albums on a CD titled The Complete Yale Concert, 1966. Finding little money in playing avant garde jazz, Pullen began to play the Hammond organ to extend his opportunities for work, transferring elements of his individual piano style to this instrument. During the remainder of the 1960s and early 1970s, he played with his own organ trio in clubs and bars, worked as a self taught arranger for record companies, and accompanied various singers including Arthur Prysock, Irene Reid, Ruth Brown, Jimmy Rushing and Nina Simone. In 1972, Pullen briefly appeared with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Pullen appeared on no more commercial recordings until 1971 and 1972, when he played organ on three recordings by altoist Charles Williams, one being issued under the title of a Pullen composition, "Trees And Grass And Things".

Pullen had always played piano with bass and drums behind him, feeling more comfortable this way, but in early 1975 he was persuaded to play a solo concert in Toronto. This was recorded as Solo Piano Album (Sackville) and became the first record issued under Pullen's name alone. Among other pieces, it contains "Sweet (Suite) Malcolm", declared a masterpiece by Cameron Brown, Pullen's long time associate of later years. Meanwhile, he recorded with groups led by Billy Hart (drums), Hamiet Bluiett (baritone sax), Cecil McBee (bass), Sunny Murray (drums) and Marcello Melis (bass). On the formation of the first Mingus Dynasty band Pullen occupied the piano chair and appeared on their recording Chair In The Sky in 1979, but he soon left the band, feeling the music had diverged too far from Mingus' intentions.

In late 1979 Pullen, Adams, and Richmond were booked to play as a quartet for a European tour of a few weeks' duration. Pullen invited Cameron Brown to join them on bass. They were asked to bill themselves as a "Mingus group", but not wanting to be identified as mere copyists, they declined and performed as the George Adams/Don Pullen Quartet. They played music that was more structured than Pullen normally favored, but the immediate rapport among them led to the group touring the world with unchanged personnel until the death of Richmond in early 1988. From very early in their first tour in 1979, and until 1985, the quartet made a dozen recordings for European labels, both in the studio and in concert. Of these, Earth Beams (1980), Live At The Village Vanguard (1983) and Decisions (1984) provide typically fine examples of their work at that period. Although highly regarded in Europe, the quartet felt they were not well enough known in America, so in 1986 they signed to record for Blue Note Records, for which they recorded Breakthrough (1986) and Song Everlasting (1987). Beginning the Blue Note contract with great hope of increased fame and success, as shown by the title of the first album, they became disillusioned by the poor availability of the two records. Although the power of their live concerts maintained their reputation as one of the most exciting groups ever seen, the music recorded for the Blue Note sessions was at first deemed "smoother" than on their European recordings, and took time to achieve the same high reputation. After the death of Dannie Richmond the quartet fulfilled their remaining contracted engagements with drummer Lewis Nash and then disbanded in mid 1988. Their music, usually original compositions by Pullen, Adams and Richmond, had ranged from blues, through ballads, to post bop and avant garde. The ability of the players to encompass all these areas, often within one composition, removed any sameness or sterility from the quartet format. Except for the early recordings on the vanished Horo label, their European recordings on Soulnote and Timeless remained frequently available, unlike those made for Blue Note. During the life of the Quartet, Pullen also made a duo recording with George Adams, Melodic Excursions (1982), and made three recordings under his own name, two further solo albums, the acclaimed Evidence Of Things Unseen (1983) and Plays Monk (1984), then with a quintet, another highly praised recording The Sixth Sense (1985) on Black Saint. He also recorded with (alphabetically) Hamiet Bluiett; Roy Brooks, the drummer who introduced him to Mingus; Jane Bunnett; Kip Hanrahan; Beaver Harris; Marcello Melis; and David Murray. All Pullen's future recordings under his own name were for Blue Note. On 16 December 1988 he went into the studio with Gary Peacock (bass) and Tony Williams (drums) to make his first trio album New Beginnings, which astonished even those familiar with his work and became widely regarded as one of the finest trio albums ever recorded. He followed this in 1990 with another trio album, Random Thoughts, in somewhat lighter mood, this time with James Genus (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums).

In late 1990 Pullen added a new element to his playing and his music with the formation of his African Brazilian Connection ("ABC"). This featured Carlos Ward (alto sax), Nilson Matta (bass), Guilherme Franco and Mor Thiam (percussion) in a group which mixed African and Latin rhythms with jazz. Their first album, Kele Mou Bana, was released in 1991. Their second, but very different, album of 1993, Ode To Life, was a tribute to George Adams, who had died on November 14, 1992, containing Pullen's heartfelt and moving composition in Adams' memory, "Ah George We Hardly Knew Ya". A third album, Live Again, recorded in July 1993 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, was not released until 1995. This featured "Ah George " and other songs from their previous albums, in somewhat extended versions. Pullen achieved more popular and commercial success with this group than with any other. In 1993 Ode To Life was fifth on the U. S. Billboard Top Jazz Album chart. During the last few years of his life, Pullen toured with his trio, with his African Brazilian Connection, and as a solo artist, but did not release any more solo records. As a sideman and session musician, he left his mark with a variety of noteworthy artists, including (alphabetically) Jane Bunnett (notably their duo album New York Duets), Bill Cosby, Kip Hanrahan, David Murray's 1991 Shakill's Warrior, Maceo Parker, Ivo Perelman and Jack Walrath. He also toured and recorded with the group Roots from its inception. Pullen's final project was a work combining the sounds of his African Brazilian Connection (extended by Joseph Bowie on trombone) with a choir and drums of Native Americans. Despite his Native American background (his paternal grandmother was half Indian, probably Cherokee) he began to experiment with American Indian music as late as July 1992. In 1994 Pullen was diagnosed with lymphoma. He continued to put great physical effort into completing the composition. In early March 1995 he played on his final recording, Sacred Common Ground (with the Chief Cliff Singers, Kootenai Indians from Elmo, Montana), a few weeks away from his death, returning to his heritage of the blues and the church. Unable to play at the live premiere, his place at the piano was taken by D. D. Jackson, with whom Pullen discussed the music from his hospital bed shortly before his death. He died on April 22, 1995, of lymphoma. Pullen composed many pieces, which often were portraits or memories of people he knew. All were published by his own company, Andredon, but because he for a long time suffered from neglect musically, so did many of his compositions. His best known are the humorous "Big Alice" (for an imaginary fan), "Double Arc Jake" (for his son Jake and Rahsaan Roland Kirk), the passionate "Ode To Life" (for a friend), and the aforementioned lament, "Ah George We Hardly Knew Ya". Occasionally he wrote pieces with a religious feeling, such as "Gratitude" and "Healing Force", or to highlight the plight of African Americans, such as "Warriors", "Silence = Death", and "Endangered Species: African American Youth". Following the assassination of African American activist Malcolm X, Pullen had written a suite dedicated to Malcolm X's memory, but this required more instrumental resources than a normal sized jazz group provides, and only the piano parts of this were ever recorded. Except for the Plays Monk album, Pullen almost exclusively featured his own compositions on his own recordings, until his time with the African Brazilian Connection. His compositions are well represented on the George Adams/Don Pullen Quartet recordings, but his compositions which were recorded by others were usually performed by those who had known and worked with him. Pullen's piano technique can be seen on the DVDs Mingus At Montreux 1975 and Roots Salutes The Saxophones.

Several musicians wrote songs as personal tributes to Pullen's memory. David Murray and D. D. Jackson recorded an album, Long Goodbye: A Tribute to Don Pullen (1998), dedicated to Pullen and featuring his compositions. Others who wrote tributes include Jane Bunnett, Cameron Brown and Myra Melford. D. D. Jackson also dedicated a piece to him on his CD, Paired Down, Vol. I (Justin Time Records, 1996), entitled "For Don". In 2005, Mosaic Records issued a set of four long unavailable Blue Note recordings: Breakthrough and Song Everlasting by the Don Pullen/George Adams Quartet, and New Beginning and Random Thoughts by Pullen's own trio. Also, his songs hit big screen movies, such as "Big Alice" in The Preacher's Wife and "Once Upon A Time" in Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored.

Year recordedTitleLabelPersonnel/Notes1966In Concert at Yale UniversitySRPDuo, with Milford Graves (percussion); in concert1966NommoSRPDuo, with Milford Graves (drums, percussion); in concert1975Solo Piano AlbumSackvilleSolo piano. Later reissued under the title "Richards's Tune"1975Jazz a Confronto 21HoroQuartet, with George Adams (tenor sax, flute, percussion), David Williams (bass, percussion), Dannie Richmond (drums, vocals)1975Five to GoHoroSolo piano1975Capricorn RisingBlack SaintQuartet, with Sam Rivers (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute), Alex Blake (bass), Bobby Battle (drums)1976Healing ForceBlack SaintSolo piano1976–77Tomorrow's PromisesAtlanticWith George Adams (tenor sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet, flute; all tracks), for some tracks, others were added: Randy Brecker and Hannibal Marvin Peterson (trumpet), Roland Prince and Sterling Magee (guitar), Michal Urbaniak (violin), İlhan Mimaroğlu (electronics), John Flippin (electric bass), Alex Blake (bass), Tyronne Walker (drums), Bobby Battle (drums, percussion), Ray Mantilla (percussion), Rita DaCosta (vocals)1977Montreux ConcertAtlanticOne track trio, with Jeff Berlin (electric bass), Steve Jordan (drums); one track quintet, with Raphael Cruz and Sammy Figueroa (percussion) added; in concert1978WarriorsBlack SaintQuartet, with Chico Freeman (tenor sax), Fred Hopkins (bass), Bobby Battle (drums)1978Milano StrutBlack SaintDuo, with Don Moye (drums, percussion)1979The Magic TriangleBlack SaintTrio, with Joseph Jarman (tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet, flute, alto flute, piccolo), Don Moye (drums, percussion)1984Plays MonkPaddle WheelSolo piano1983Evidence of Things UnseenBlack SaintSolo piano1985The Sixth SenseBlack SaintQuintet, with Olu Dara (trumpet), Donald Harrison (alto sax), Fred Hopkins (bass), Bobby Battle (drums)1988New BeginningsBlue NoteTrio, with Gary Peacock (bass), Tony Williams (drums)1990Random ThoughtsBlue NoteTrio, with James Genus (bass), Lewis Nash (drums)1990Kele Mou BanaBlue NoteWith the African Brazilian Connection: Carlos Ward (alto sax), Nilson Matta (bass), Guilherme Franco (percussion), Mor Thiam (percussion, vocals), Keith Pullen and Tameka Pullen (vocals)1993Ode to LifeBlue NoteWith the African Brazilian Connection: Carlos Ward (alto sax, flute), Nilson Matta (bass), Guilherme Franco (percussion), Mor Thiam (percussion, vocals)1993Live Again: Live at MontreuxBlue NoteWith the African Brazilian Connection: Carlos Ward (alto sax), Nilson Matta (bass), J. T. Lewis (drums), Mor Thiam (percussion, vocals); in concert1995Sacred Common GroundBlue NoteWith Carlos Ward (alto sax), Joseph Bowie (trombone), Santi Debriano (bass), J. T. Lewis (drums), Mor Thiam (percussion); Chief Cliff Singers (vocals, drums)