Home » Jazz Musicians » Charles Tolliver
Charles Tolliver
Dizzy Gillespie, when asked in a Downbeat magazine interview with Herb Nolan, “what trumpet players do you hear today whom you like”, Dizzy’s reply, “Charles Tolliver – I like him”. Charles Tolliver, entirely self-taught, is a remarkable talent who has gained an outstanding reputation as a trumpetist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1942, his musical career began at the age of 8 when his beloved grandmother, Lela, presented him with his first instrument, a cornet, and the inspiration to learn.
After a few years of college majoring in pharmacy at Howard University, and formulating his trumpet style, Charles began his professional career with the saxophone giant Jackie Mclean. Making his recording debut with McLean on Blue Note Records in 1964, Charles has since recorded and/or performed with such renowned artists as Roy Haynes, Hank Mobley, Willie Bobo, Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Booker Ervin, Gary Bartz, Herbie Hancock, The Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Oliver Nelson, Andrew Hill, Louis Hayes, Roy Ayers, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, and Max Roach.
Charles Tolliver has been a recipient of the Downbeat Critic’s Choice for the Trumpet category. In 1969 he formed the quartet Music Inc which has become internationally respected for its innovative trumpet quartet approach. Charles and his Music Inc, has toured in North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan performing at festivals, concerts, radio and television stations. In 1970 he and his alter ego fellow musician artist Stanley Cowell created Strata-East Records which he has steadfastly kept alive straight into the present. During the ’80s and ’90s he continued touring with his small group, MUSIC INC, and on a number of occasions performed his large ensemble compositions and arrangements as soloist with practically every European Radio/TV Jazz orchestra. Having already issued on his Strata-East label two critically acclaimed big band LPs, “Music Inc & Big Band” and “Impact”, now in the new millennium he once again returned to the big band format. In 2007 he issued on Blue Note Records his big band recording entitled, “With Love” which was immediately Grammy Nominated. The Jazz Journalists Association presented him with the “Best Large Ensemble of the Year 2007” award for his new tour de force group The Charles Tolliver Big Band. In an historic reenactment & presentation at Town Hall in 2009 for the 50th anniversary celebration of Thelonious Monk’s historic 1959 Town Hall concert, he was featured performing his definitive transcription of the lost scores of arranger Hal Overton’s orchestrations of Thelonious’ music exactly as it was performed & recorded for the original concert. His newest big band CD “Emperor March” recorded live at the Blue Note New York City was released in March 2009.
Tags
Charles Tolliver Music Inc.: Live at the Captain's Cabin
by Pierre Giroux
Charles Tolliver's Live at the Captain's Cabin is a previously unheard two-CD set captured at an intimate venue in Edmonton, Alberta, on June 24, 1973, produced for release on Reel to Real Recordings by tenor saxophonist and jazz entrepreneur Cory Weeds. The synergy and spontaneity heard in this session can only come from a group accustomed to the rigours of the road. With no prior intention to record, trumpeter Tolliver and his quartet, comprised of pianist John Hicks, bassist Clint ...
Continue ReadingLajos Dudas: Radio Days Vol. 2
by Mark Sullivan
The previous compilation Radio Days: The Music Of Lajos Dudas (JazzSick Records, 2016) was released to celebrate German-Hungarian jazz clarinetist/composer Lajos Dudas' 75th birthday. It collected performances dating from 1984 to the early 2000s: about twenty years. The new volume's coverage is both wider and deeper. The dates range from 1976 to 2017—over forty years—and the total time is about the length of three CDs. It comes on a special memory card, an unusual format well-suited to what Dudas describes ...
Continue ReadingA focus on Charles Tolliver
by Bob Osborne
Connect is the first release from trumpeter Charles Tolliver in over a decade. The new album finds him in fine form and good company. With a recording career which began in the mid-1960s, and an impressive, albeit relatively small, back catalogue he is possibly one of the great unsung trumpeters in jazz. The show includes music from the new album and a selection of some of the highlights of his career. Playlist Charles Tolliver “Blue Soul" from Connect ...
Continue ReadingCharles Tolliver: Blowing Down The Walls Of Trump’s Jericho
by Chris May
Charles Tolliver has played with practically every major African American jazz stylist of his generation, and composed for some of them, too. In addition, he is the co-founder of Strata-East, the most influential label at the intersection of hard bop and spiritual jazz during the 1970s. Tolliver's long and distinguished career continues to flourish, with a new album, Connect, recorded in London in November 2019, set for release on the Gearbox label at the end of July 2020.
Continue ReadingCharles Tolliver: Connect
by Chris May
Put out more flags. Connect, the first release from trumpeter Charles Tolliver in over a decade, is a monster. From the Saturday-night goodtime opener “Blue Soul" through to the intense, Spanish tinged, serpentine closer “Suspicion," the album finds Tolliver still at the top of his game in a recording career which began in the mid 1960s. He fronts a US quintet which brings with it the grit and groove of a mid-1960s Blue Note hard-bop band while sounding totally 2020. ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Parker Festival 2018
by Rudolph Lu
Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park's Summer Stage was the site of two separate concerts that were part of New York City's Charlie Parker Festival 2018. This 26th edition truly celebrated the diversity and styles of jazz. August 24th opened with noted vocalist Brianna Thomas performing jazz standards with her talented swinging band. Charles Tolliver led a quintet of all stars to perform music from his groundbreaking 1968 album Paper Man. The quintet featured Gary Bartz, Jason Moran, Jack DeJohnette ...
Continue ReadingThe Charles Tolliver Big Band Live at The Iridium Jazz Club
by Dave Kaufman
The Charles Tolliver Big BandThe Iridium Jazz ClubNew York, NYOctober 17, 2009Charles Tolliver leads a modernist 16 piece big band that pushes the envelope of contemporary orchestral jazz sounds. The Big Band played a four night stand at the Iridium Jazz Club and I was fortunate to catch the second set on Saturday night. The Iridium is situated in Midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks away from Time Square, the tourist corner of the world. ...
Continue ReadingLegendary Strata-East Label Celebrates 50 Years - Led By Charles Tolliver With Narrator Danny Glover On August 31st-September 4th At Birdland
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Strata-East Records @ 50 with Charles Tolliver & the Strata-East All Stars featuring Billy Harper, George Cables, Cecil McBee, Buster Williams, Lenny White AND guest screen star activist Danny Glover as narrator. August 31 – September 4, 2021 The livestream concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Strata-East Records with Charles Tolliver & the Strata-East All Stars featuring Billy Harper, George Cables, Buster Williams, Lenny White AND guest narrator Danny Glover will take place at the “Jazz Corner Of The World” ...
read more
Legendary Strata-East Label Celebrates 50 Years - Led By Charles Tolliver With Narrator Danny Glover On September 1-4 At Birdland
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Strata-East Records @ 50 with Charles Tolliver & the Strata-East All Stars featuring Billy Harper, George Cables, Buster Williams, Lenny White AND guest screen star activist Danny Glover as narrator. Due to unforeseen circumstances brought about by an emergency dental procedure for Charles requiring proper healing time which would extend past the original scheduled June 16 date, the show has been rescheduled. The livestream concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Strata-East Records with Charles Tolliver & the Strata-East All Stars ...
read more
Strata-East At 50! June 16th With Narrator Danny Glover, Charles Tolliver, Billy Harper, George Cables, Buster Williams, Lenny White & Special Guests!
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Strata-East Records celebrate 50 years of amazing Jazz on June 16th at 7:30pm EDT. Price: $20. Day of show $25. The performance will be available on-demand for 48 hours starting June 17th at 12:00 AM EDT. Strata-East @ 50 featuring Charles Tolliver, Billy Harper, George Cables, Buster Williams, Lenny White and special guest Danny Glover! Strata-East Records, now in its 50th year, was created by Charles Tolliver & Stanley Cowell. Their first recording in 1970, “Music Inc" & Big Band, ...
read more
Charles Tolliver's 'Connect' Featuring Buster Williams, Lenny White And More! First Release In 13 Years!
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
New York-based trumpeter, composer and educator Charles Tolliver presents Connect, his first studio album in 13 years. There's no title track on the new album from Charles Tolliver, but the name—Connect—isn't some ethereal abstraction: it's an invitation. Release date: July 31st. “I wanted the music to connect in these times," explains the trumpeter-composer, a 50-plus-year music veteran and the co-founder of the legendary 1970's jazz label Strata-East Records. “I'm asking the listener to get it: to get what I'm doing, ...
read more
Charles Tolliver's Big Bands
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
One of the finest jazz trumpeters around today who began his career during the 1960s Blue Note period is Charles Tolliver. If you're familiar with Jackie McLean's It's Time (1965), Action Action Action (1967) and Jackknife (1975), then you know the blistering sound of Tolliver's horn. His career as an album leader began in 1968 with Paper Man (Freedom), followed in '69 by The Ringer, also on Freedom. But his finest recordings began in 1970 on Strata-East, a label he ...
read more
WBGO's Upcoming JazzSet - Hugh Masekela at Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and Grammy Nominee Charles Tolliver at Detroit Int'l Jazz Festival
Source:
All About Jazz
For two weeks in February, NPR's weekly radio series JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater broadcasts recent performances by jazz trumpeters Hugh Masekela and Charles Tolliver, and shares their individual stories. Masekela, onstage at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, airs the week beginning February 14. The Charles Tolliver Big Band at the Detroit International Jazz Festival airs the week beginning February 21. Masekela, born in 1939 in South Africa, spent the 1960s in the United States. In 1968 his Afro-jazz-pop single “Grazin ...
read more
Saxophonist James Spaulding Takes over Reins for Trumpeter Charles Tolliver in Reggie Workman's Sculptured Sound Presents @ Twins DC, Fri. Oct. 5 & Sat., Oct. 6
Source:
The Cinarae Group
Master Saxophonist James Spaulding will take over the reins for Charles Tolliver this weekend at Twins DC!
James Spaulding, has established his reputation as a masterful soloist for ensemble performances, and for many years was among the busier sidemen for Blue Note Records. An exceptional saxophonist and flutist, he is one of the many fine artists to come out the Indianapolis area. Spaulding has performed with such jazz notables as the Sun Ra Orchestra, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Max Roach ...
read more
Charles Tolliver's Music Continuum Featured in Reggie Workman's Sculptured Sounds Series @ Twins Jazz, Oct. 5th & 6th
Source:
The Cinarae Group
If Charles Tolliver were listed in Websters's Dictionary there'd definitely be one word next to his name - INTENSE. Beginning his professional career with saxophone giant Jackie MacLean in 1964, this hard-blowing trumpeter has since recorded and/or performed with such renowned artists as Roy Haynes, Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Booker Ervin, The Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Oliver Nelson, Roy Ayers, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and Max Roach. Tolliver's recent Blue Note Big-Band release With Love is rapidly ...
read more
Charles Tolliver's Music Inc Continuum Featured in Reggie Workman's Sculptured Sounds Series @ Twins Jazz, Oct. 5 & 6
Source:
The Cinarae Group
If Charles Tolliver were listed in Websters's Dictionary there'd definitely be one word next to his name - INTENSE. Beginning his professional career with the saxophone giant, Jackie MacLean in 1964, this hard-blowing trumpeter has since recorded and/or performed with such renowned artists as Roy Haynes, Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Booker Ervin, The Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Oliver Nelson, Roy Ayers, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and Max Roach. Tolliver's recent Blue Note Big-Band release “With Love" is ...
read more
Photos
Music
Videos
Similar
Thelonious Monk
piano
John Coltrane
saxophone
Wynton Marsalis
trumpet
Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet
Max Roach
drums
Sonny Rollins
saxophone
Freddie Hubbard
trumpet
Art Blakey
drums
Cannonball Adderley
saxophone
McCoy Tyner
piano
Joe Henderson
saxophone
Lee Morgan
trumpet
Elvin Jones
drums
Kenny Dorham
trumpet
Andrew Hill
piano
Jackie McLean
saxophone, alto
Charles Tolliver
Instrument: Trumpet
Born: March 6, 1942
Management: AMI - Addeo Music International
