R.I.P. Jimmy Knepper

[JSngry]

Deep's announcing the passing of Jimmy Knepper on AAJ: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread....=&threadid=1985

Sad news. Knepper was one of the best ever in my opinion. Everybody dies, bur still....

[jazzbo]

One of the best ever, I agree. Very sad news.

[DrJ]

Totally agreed, terrible news. I will be spinning JIMMY KNEPPER IN LA this afternoon in tribute, a blistering example of his art, along with some Mingus dates.

[John L]

He was a major presence in jazz in more ways than one.

RIP

[Soul Stream]

Once again, Deep adds a touch of class to the passing of a jazz great.

[brownie]

Very sad news. His distinctive sound will be very much missed.

[brownie]

The New York Times' obituary on Jimmy Knepper:

Jimmy Knepper, Versatile Jazz Trombonist, Dies at 75

By PETER KEEPNEWS

Jimmy Knepper, a jazz trombonist best known for his productive but stormy association

with Charles Mingus, died on Saturday in Triadelphia, W.Va. He was 75.

The cause was complications of Parkinson's disease, his wife, Maxine, said yesterday

from their Staten Island home. Mr. Knepper was living temporarily at the home of his

daughter, Robin Rios, in Triadelphia, Mrs. Knepper said.

Over the course of a career that began when he was in his teens, Mr. Knepper was a

featured soloist in countless bands, big and small. But his reputation as one of the

most original trombonists of his generation rests largely on the music he made with

Mingus

from 1957 to 1962.

Mr. Knepper's distinctively gruff sound and loose-limbed phrasing were essential

elements in some of the most celebrated albums by Mingus, the great bassist

and composer, including "The Clown," "Tijuana Moods" and "Mingus Ah Um."

The jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote that Mr. Knepper's "solos with Mingus are

intricate, beautifully structured and complete statements."

But relations between the plain-spoken Mr. Knepper and the notoriously volatile

Mingus were often tense, and they came to an abrupt and violent turning point

during preparations for a New York concert in 1962. Mr. Knepper recalled in a 1981

interview with Lee Jeske of Down Beat magazine that in the course of an argument

about Mr. Knepper's role as music copyist for the

concert, Mingus "just kind of slapped me in the mouth," and the blow "just happened

to break off my incisor."

The injury seriously affected Mr. Knepper's embouchure; it took him several years to

regain his full range on the trombone.

Mingus was convicted of third-degree assault (his sentence was suspended), and a

fruitful collaboration was seemingly ended forever. Surprisingly, though, Mr. Knepper

worked with Mingus again in the 1970's, appearing on the album "Let My Children

Hear Music" in 1971,

at a Carnegie Hall concert in 1976 and on the last three albums Mingus recorded

before his death in 1979.

Mr. Knepper characterized his return to the Mingus fold as a kind of grim inevitability.

"It was very depressing to think that I'm linked with this guy for the rest of my life,"

he told Down Beat in 1981, referring to his earlier days with Mingus. "And now I feel

the same way."

The link proved enduring: he spent much of the 1980's as a member of Mingus

Dynasty, a group devoted to playing Mingus's music and made up primarily of

former Mingus sidemen.

James Minter Knepper was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 22, 1927. Although he was

not yet 30 when he first worked with Mingus, he was already a seasoned veteran,

having spent time in several big bands, including those of Charlie Barnet, Woody

Herman and Claude Thornhill. During his five years with Mingus, he continued to work occasionally for other bandleaders, most notably Stan Kenton. In 1960 he went to

Africa with a small group led by the flutist Herbie Mann, and in 1962 he was a

member of the Benny Goodman ensemble that toured the Soviet Union.

Mr. Knepper recorded only occasionally as a leader or co-leader, and he never led

a band of his own. But if he was something less than a star, he was greatly admired

by fellow musicians for his skill as an improviser and for his ability to function

comfortably and creatively in any context. He played in the pit bands of several

Broadway musicals and, from 1968 to 1974, with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz

Orchestra. Throughout the 80's and 90's he regularly toured Europe as a freelance

soloist.

In addition to his wife, Maxine, a former jazz trumpeter, and his daughter, Ms. Rios,

he is survived by four grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Knepper's son, Timothy, died in

Los Angeles in 1991 at age 34, she said.

Mr. Knepper once said that jazz "shouldn't be taken very seriously" and that "in a

lot of ways, it's just shallow, superficial and pyrotechnical." But whether or not those

words were a true reflection of his feelings, he always played jazz with great passion

and fervor — even if he found it a less-than-ideal way to make a living.

"It's hard for a jazz musician to live a rational life, unless he has an independent

income or a busy maximum of work," he said in 1977. "You really have to be

dedicated to the music to be able to survive."

[paul secor]

I held off posting in the hope that Deep was wrong. Sadly, he wasn't.

Thanks for all the music, Mr. Knepper. We'll miss you.

[Joe]

One of my favorite players ever on his instrument. Think I'll sping EAST COASTING tonight in his honor: "Celia"...

Knepper also made a great contribution to jazz history by clearing up for us who Dean Benedetti really was, and what the man's relationship with Bird was really like.

RIP...

[JohnS]

Very sad news, a fine trombonist. I'll be giving his Debut quintet date a spin.