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Mundell Lowe
BORN IN LAUREL, Mississippi, Mundell left home at the age of thirteen. After working in Nashville, he found his way to Bourbon Street in New Orleans and the beginning of his jazz career. While serving in World War Il, he met the influential John Hammond, who introduced him to Ray McKinley. Mundell worked with McKinley’s band for a year and a half, developing his distinctive instrumental style, and then moved on to work in New York at Café Society and stints at the Village Vanguard and The Embers, among others. Mundell worked with Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Helen Humes and Charles Mingus, to name but a few. These gigs overlapped with an early morning TV show at NBC with Cy Coleman, “A Date in Manhattan,” and later “The Kate Smith Hour” with Stan Getz, Doc Severinsen, and Kai Winding.
FROM THE EARLY FIFTIES to the mid-Sixties, he was an active performer, working with George Duvivier on bass and Ed Shaughnessy on drums in Dave Garroway’s “Today Show” studio band. He also played with the extraordinary pianist Hank Jones when they both worked in the NBC and CBS orchestras of the early Fifties. After seventeen years at NBC as a guitarist and arranger, Lowe was transferred to the News and Special Events Department to work as a composer.
MUNDELL MOVED TO LOS ANGELES, California, Christmas 1965�"actually, he left to visit some friends, and never went back to New York! He met Jackie Cooper, then-head of Screen Gems, and began the West Coast phase of his career composing music for some of their television and film properties. Lowe augmented his TV and film work with making his own LPs as well as two successful projects with noted singers Sarah Vaughan (‘After Hours”) and Carmen McRae (‘Bittersweet”).
EVEN THOUGH HE HAD made special appearances with Peggy Lee and the White House, toured Japan with Benny Carter several times, and was a regular performer at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Mundell found he was spending more time writing than playing, which he found frustrating. He made up his mind to turn that around and, during the 1980s, he stepped out of the studio world of film and television and returned to performing, the first love of his long and rich musical career.
MUNDELL'S CURRENT SCHEDULE is no less active. In the last few years he has traveled the globe as a concert performer, worked the States with his own quintet, and has made several trips to New York to work with Ron Carter, Al Foster, Bill Mays, and Ray Drummond.
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Mundell Lowe / Lloyd Wells / Jim Ferguson: Poor Butterfly
by Mark Sullivan
Mainstream jazz guitar doesn't get much better than this. Guitarist Mundell Lowe's long career includes sideman stints with Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, André Previn, and many others; he has composed film and TV scores as well. Co-guitarist Lloyd Wells also grew up in Laurel, Mississippi, giving the pair a hometown connection. The two previously collaborated on This One's For Charlie (Azica Records, 2000). It's a well balanced program, comprised of three guitar duets, three solo features from both ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe / Lloyd Wells / Jim Ferguson: Poor Butterfly
by Dan Bilawsky
Few people could ever claim to have played and/or recorded with such a storied list of performers as Sarah Vaughan, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Blossom Dearie, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, and Lester Young. But Mundell Lowe can. In fact, that list barely scratches the surface when it comes to the legends that Lowe has worked with over the course of his lifetime. At ninety-three years of age he's now a legend himself, standing tall ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe Quartet Live At The Saville Theater
by Robert Bush
Mundell Lowe Quartet Saville Theater, San Diego City College San Diego CA July 13, 2010 Tuesday night's affair was standing-room-only for the rare appearance by Mundell Lowe, an iconic figure in the annals of jazz history. Lowe cut his teeth as an improviser in the Roosevelt administration--that he continues to perform with such vitality two years into the Obama era is nothing short of amazing. Lowe has the rare distinction of gigging ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe: Haunted Heart
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
Guitarist Mundell Lowe has been recording since 1950. Among the colleagues who have prized his rounded, mellow tone and tasteful licks are Prez (Lester Young), Bird (Charlie Parker), Billie (Holiday) and Diz(zy Gillespie). Here he joins forces with bassist/vocalist Jim Ferguson, who's increasingly known for his fine playing and splendid singing. It's a winning combination, and a classy, intimate set. The session includes two finger-popping instrumentals: lively takes on “There's a Small Hotel and Lowe's own “Big Star, ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe: Guitar Moods
by David Rickert
For fans of jazz guitar, the trio setting holds a special appeal. Not the familiar Nat King Cole style trio of guitar, piano, and bass, but rather the format where the guitarist is accompanied by bass and drums only, a situation which forces him to use chords and single note soloing to fill up the space.
Mundell Lowe ups the ante even more by playing a program consisting entirely of ballads, some of which are taken at a virtually tempoless ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe / Hendrik Meurkens: Mundell's Moods
by Jack Bowers
Does guitarist Mundell Lowe ever have moods that are less than agreeable? Surely he must — but not on this album. Here, Mundell’s Moods are consistently sunny and upbeat, designed to put a smile on anyone’s face and a spring in his or her step. Even the ballads (“Darn That Dream,” “Body and Soul”) seem more lighthearted than blue, thanks to the stubbornly cheerful nature of Lowe and his companions, the versatile Hendrik Meurkens (on vibes or harmonica), pianist Larry ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe: A Grand Night for Swinging
by David Rickert
Mundell Lowe has always been on the fringes of the jazz scene, peering over the shoulders of guitar giants like Jim Hall and Herb Ellis and relegated to the long list of those deserving wider recognition. Even the most knowledgeable of jazz fans will end up scratching their heads at the mention of his name. His first album as a leader (reissued recently by OJC) is bathed in obscurity and marked by oddball moves; besides the jingling celeste, Lowe elected ...
Continue ReadingMundell Lowe (1922-2017)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Mundell Lowe, an impeccable jazz guitarist, arranger and talent scout who recorded on many important East Coast jazz albums and introduced Bill Evans to Riverside producer Orrin Keepnews in the mid-1950s, died on December 2. He was 95. Few guitarists played with as many jazz greats as Mundy. The list includes Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Mary Lou Williams and Ben Webster. Mundy, as he was known among friends and insiders, had one of the smoothest sounds ...
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Mundell Lowe, 1922-2017
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Guitarist Mundell Lowe died today. He was 95. Lowe’s career began at 13 when he frequently went from his home in Laurel, Mississippi, to work at clubs in New Orleans’ French Quarter. After service in World War Two, he honed his bebop skills and became one of New York’s busiest guitarists. He worked with a cross-section of major musicians including the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, pianist Billy Taylor, and his own quintet at The Embers and other clubs. He was in demand ...
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Mundell Lowe: 'Souvenirs'
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Every great jazz musician has a handful of albums that stand out even above their vast catalog of superb works. I call these “sweet spot" recordings, which feed right into what you love best about the artist. Guitarist Mundell Lowe is no exception. According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, he has recorded on more than 360 known jazz sessions, and many of those albums are first rate. One of my favorites is Souvenirs: A Tribute to Nick Ceroli (Jazz Alliance). ...
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Mundell Lowe: TV Action Jazz
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Among Mundell Lowe's finest albums (and there are many) are the two TV Action Jazz LPs he recorded in 1959 and 1960. Most jazz fans think of Mundell solely as a polished guitarist in both club and studio settings. In fact, Mundell also is a terrific swinging arranger, and the TV Action Jazz albums bear this out. The first one, recorded in February 1959, was called TV Action Jazz! The album featured Donald Byrd (tp), Jimmy Cleveland (tb), Herbie Mann ...
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