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Leroy Jenkins

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Leroy Jenkins was an American violinist, violist and composer, born in Chicago in 1932. He grew up among records by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine and was given a violin as a child. At school he played clarinet and alto saxophone, because there was no orchestra. Later he studied in Florida. In the mid-1960s he returned to Chicago, where he joined the circle of the AACM, the collective of experimental jazz musicians. There he played in a trio with Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith, which recorded 3 Compositions of New Jazz in 1968. In 1969 the trio moved to Paris.

Music and breakthrough

In 1970 Jenkins left for New York. He founded the Revolutionary Ensemble with the bassist Sirone and the drummer Jerome Cooper, a group that lasted about six years. He also played and recorded with Alice Coltrane, Don Cherry, Carla Bley and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Records under his own name include For Players Only in 1975 and The Legend of Ai Glatson in 1978. In the 1980s he led the group Sting, with two violins, two guitars, electric bass and drums.

Influence

Jenkins was one of the few violinists in free jazz and showed that the instrument could have a raw voice of its own there. Later he wrote mainly for the theatre and the concert hall: the jazz-rap opera Fresh Faust, the cantata The Negro Burial Ground and the opera The Three Willies. He died in New York in 2007.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to For Players Only and notice how the violin can sing, scrape and tear, sometimes within a few seconds. Try to hear how he improvises with the other players.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists