Robert Henry Timmons (December 19, 1935 – March 1, 1974) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major f ...

pianist and composer. He was a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for two periods (July 1958 to September 1959; February 1960 to June 1961), between which he was part of

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single " Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", wh ...

's band. Several of Timmons' compositions written when part of these bands – including "

Moanin' ''Moanin'' (originally titled ''Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers'') is a jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1958 for the Blue Note label and released in 1959. Background This was Blakey's first album for Blue No ...

", " Dat Dere", and "This Here" – enjoyed commercial success and brought him more attention. In the early and mid-1960s he led a series of piano trios that toured and recorded extensively. Timmons was strongly associated with the

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including te ...

style that he helped initiate. This link to apparently simple writing and playing, coupled with drug and alcohol addiction, led to a decline in his career. Timmons died, aged 38, from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

. Several critics have commented that his contribution to jazz remains undervalued.

Early life

Timmons was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

, the son of a minister.Kernfeld, Barr
"Timmons, Bobby"
''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'' (2nd edition). Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved July 29, 2013. (Subscription required.) He had a sister, Eleanor.Panken, Te
"For the 78th Birthday Anniversary of Bobby Timmons (1935–1974), a Liner Note and Five Interviews Conducted for It"
(December 19, 2013) Transcript of interview with Tootie Heath. tedpanken.wordpress.com Both of his parents, and several aunts and uncles, played the piano. From an early age Timmons studied music with an uncle, Robert Habershaw, who also taught

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gr ...

. Timmons first played at the church where his grandfather was minister;Panken, Ted. In ''The Best of Bobby Timmons'' iner notes Fantasy. Reprinted a
"For the 78th Birthday Anniversary of Bobby Timmons (1935–1974), a Liner Note and Five Interviews Conducted for It"
(December 19, 2013) tedpanken.wordpress.com this influenced his later jazz playing. He grew up in the same area as other future musicians, including the Heath brothers ( Jimmy, Percy, and Tootie) and

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

. Timmons' first professional performances were in his local area, often as a trio that included Tootie Heath on drums. After graduating from high school Timmons was awarded a scholarship to study at the

Philadelphia Musical Academy Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

1954 to spring 1961

Timmons moved to New York in 1954. He played with

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...

in 1956, making his recording debut with the trumpeter in a live set in May of that year. He went on to play and record with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

in 1956–57 (bassist

Scott LaFaro Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 – July 6, 1961) was an American jazz double bassist known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro broke new ground on the instrument, developing a countermelodic style of accompaniment rather than playin ...

was part of this band for a time),

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...

in 1957, and

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often serv ...

in 1957–58. He also recorded as a

with hornmen

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

Hank Mobley Henry "Hank" Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to de ...

, and Morgan. all for

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Orig ...

in 1957. Timmons became best known as a member of Art Blakey's band the Jazz Messengers, which he was first part of from July 1958 to September 1959, including for a tour of Europe. He was recruited for the Messengers by saxophonist Benny Golson, who said that "He was inventive, ..He could play

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

and he could play funky – he could play a lot of things, and I thought it was the element that Art needed. He hadn't had anybody quite like Bobby, who could go here or go there, rather than walking in a single corridor." By late 1958 Timmons was sharing bandmate Morgan's East Sixth Street apartment and the pair had bought a piano, allowing Timmons to practice and Morgan to work on composing.McMillan, Jeffery S. (2008) ''DelightfuLee: The Life and Music of Lee Morgan''. University of Michigan Press. From around the time he joined Blakey, Timmons, along with some of his fellow band members, was a heroin user. After leaving Blakey, Timmons joined

's band, in October 1959. Timmons was also known as a composer during this period: ''The Encyclopedia of Jazz'' states that his compositions "

" (from the 1958 album of the same title), "This Here", and " Dat Dere" "helped generate the gospel-tinged '

' style of helate '50s and early '60s." The first was written when Timmons was first with Blakey; the others were composed when he was with Adderley.Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (eds.) (2002) ''The All Music Guide to Jazz''. p. 1245. Backbeat Books. "This Here" (sometimes "Dis Here") was a surprise commercial success for Adderley: recorded in concert in 1959, it was released as part of '' The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco'' album while the band was still on tour, and they discovered its popularity only when they arrived back in New York and found crowds outside the

Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...

, where they were due to play.Sheridan, Chris (2000) ''Dis Here: A Bio-Discography of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley''. pp. 81–83. Greenwood Press. Timmons was reported to be dissatisfied with the money he had received from "This Here", and was enticed in February 1960 into leaving Adderley and returning to Blakey's band by the offer of more pay. Timmons then appeared on further well-known albums with the drummer, including '' A Night in Tunisia'', '' The Freedom Rider'' and '' The Witch Doctor''. His own recording debut as sole leader was '' This Here Is Bobby Timmons'' in 1960, which contained his first versions of his best-known compositions. In the same year, he played on recordings led by

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

, Arnett Cobb, and

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

, among others; on the first of these, ''

Work Song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

'', Timmons did not appear on all of the tracks, because he had been drinking heavily.

Summer 1961 to 1974

Timmons left Blakey for the second time in June 1961, encouraged by the success of his compositions, including

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...

plays of "Dat Dere", which

Oscar Brown Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...

had recorded after adding lyrics. Timmons then formed his own bands, initially with

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded ...

on bass and Tootie Heath on drums. They toured around the US, including the West Coast, but played most in and around New York. In the initial stages of this trio, Timmons liked the group sounds of the trios led by

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz ...

and Ahmad Jamal.Panken, Te
"For the 78th Birthday Anniversary of Bobby Timmons (1935–1974), a Liner Note and Five Interviews Conducted for It"
(December 19, 2013) Transcript of interview with Ron Carter. tedpanken.wordpress.com According to Tootie Heath, Timmons was at the peak of his fame at that point, but was addicted to heroin, and used a lot of the money that the band was paid maintaining his habit.Iverson, Ethan (November 2009

. dothemath.typepad.com In 1963, Timmons' playing, with Lewis Powers on bass and Ron McCurdy on drums, was described by a '' Washington Post'' reviewer as "flexible and adventuresome ..Glossing over everything is an undeniable sheen of church music and spirituals." In 1965, the same reviewer commented that Timmons was employing musicians who were of much lower ability: "Timmons lacks a certain passion but I wonder if this is not the fault of his sidemen." Timmons started playing vibes in the mid-1960s."Jazz Pianist, Composer of 'Moanin'". (March 3, 1974) ''The Washington Post''. p. D4. He occasionally played organ, but recorded only one track on that instrument – a 1964 version of "Moanin'" on '' From the Bottom''. Recordings as a leader continued, usually as part of a trio or quartet, but, after joining

Milestone Records Milestone Records is an American jazz record company and label founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was bought by Fantasy Records in 1972. Since then, it has produced LP reissues (including items from Ke ...

around 1967, Timmons' album '' Got to Get It!'' featured him as part of a nonet, playing arrangements by

Tom McIntosh Thomas S. "Tom" McIntosh (February 6, 1927 - July 26, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. McIntosh was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of six siblings. He also had an elder half-sibling by his fath ...

. Timmons' career declined quickly in the 1960s, in part because of drug abuseGiddins, Gary (March 7, 1974) "Bobby Timmons, 1935–1974" ''The Village Voice''. pp. 45, 50. and alcoholism, and partly as a result of being typecast as a composer and player of seemingly simple pieces of music. In 1968 he made his second, final, recording for Milestone, '' Do You Know the Way?'' In the following year, he played in a quartet led by

Sonny Red Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with Art Blakey, Curtis Fuller, Paul Qui ...

, with

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gil ...

on one of the saxophonist's temporary returns to the US from Europe, and in a trio backing vocalist

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene ...

. Timmons continued to play in the early 1970s, mostly in small groups or in combination with other pianists, and mainly in the New York area. According to saxophonist

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath wa ...

, Timmons joined

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

's big band for a tour of Europe in 1974.Heath, Jimmy, and McLaren, Joseph (2010) ''I Walked with Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath''. p. 162. Temple University Press. He was unwell and drank on the plane to Sweden, and fell while drinking at the bar before the band's first concert, in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

. Susceptible to blood clotting, he was flown back to the US. On March 1, 1974, he died from

, at the age of 38, at St Vincent's Hospital in New York."Bobby Timmons, 38, Jazz Pianist, Dead". (March 2, 1974) ''The New York Times''. p. 34. He had been in hospital for a month. He was buried in Philadelphia, and was survived by his wife, Estelle, and son, also Bobby.

Playing style and influence

Timmons was known for using block chords, "a style in which the right hand creates the melody and the left hand moves with the rhythm of the right hand, but does not change voicing except to accommodate the chord changes."Fulton, Champian (September 2011) "The Transcendent Aesthetics of the Block Chord Language". ''Down Beat''. p. 60. His use of them was more aggressive, and less melodic, than that of Red Garland. ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' suggested that "Timmons' characteristic style was a rolling, gospelly funk, perhaps longer on sheer energy than on harmonic sophistication."Cook, Richard, and Morton, Brian (2004) ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' (7th edition). Penguin. In the opinion of

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles a ...

, stylistically, "somehow Bobby Timmons never grew beyond where he was in 1960."

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for '' The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a ...

, however, highlighted other facets of Timmons' playing: the "lush udPowell-inspired ballads, his clear, sharp, unsentimental long lines." Carter also identified Powell as a primary influence on Timmons, and commented that his partner in the trio "was very giving, very loyal, played every night like it was his last chance to get it right." The funky aspects of Timmons' playing influenced fellow pianists, including

Les McCann Leslie Coleman McCann (born September 23, 1935) is an American jazz pianist and vocalist. Feather, Leonard, and Ira Gitler (2007), ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 448. Oxford University Press. Early life Les McCann was born in ...

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' T ...

, and Benny Green. Timmons is often mentioned as being under-rated; jazz writer

Marc Myers Marc Myers (born September 4, 1956) is an American journalist, author of five books and a regular contributor to ''The Wall Street Journal'', where he writes on music, the arts and celebrities. In 2007, he founded ''JazzWax'', a leading daily jazz ...

commented in 2008 that "today, Timmons' contribution to jazz – as an accompanist, writer, leader and innovator of a new sound – is vastly overlooked and undervalued."Myers, Marc (January 7, 2008
"This Here Is Bobby Timmons"
. JazzWax.

Compositions

Timmons wrote "a steady stream of infectious funky tunes", stated Giddins. Timmons dismissed the idea that he was deliberately a composer: "I'm a dilettante as a composer. I have never consciously sat down and tried to write a song."Pagones, John (February 16, 1964) "Timmons Shuns Composer Role". ''The Washington Post''. p. G4. He stated that his method of composing a new song might involve "whistling, playing around with the notes, or at a club. I'll tell one musician to play this note, another that note, and we kick it around." One account of the creation of "Moanin'" was given by Golson: Timmons had the opening eight bars, which he often played between tunes, but formed the complete song only after Golson encouraged him to add a bridge.

Personality

Tootie Heath reported that, when they were on tour and Timmons was addicted to heroin, the pianist would routinely lie and sometimes pull out a knife to threaten people. Carter, the bassist from that tour, stated that Timmons offered his bandmates a lot of encouragement to experiment and improve from performance to performance, and that he "was a really multi-talented person and he was just a real sweetheart, a sweetheart of a man". In Golson's words, Timmons "had no ego about him, ..He was always upbeat, never downbeat, and he never maligned anybody unless it was in a humorous way".

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

Sources:"Bobby Timmons: Credits"
AllMusic. Retrieved December 24, 2013.

Notes

References

External links

Timmons at AllMusicTimmons at jazzgiants.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmons, Bobby 1935 births 1974 deaths Alcohol-related deaths in New York City American jazz composers American jazz pianists American male pianists Atlantic Records artists Cannonball Adderley Quintet members Capitol Records artists Deaths from cirrhosis The Jazz Messengers members Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Mainstream jazz pianists American male jazz composers Milestone Records artists Musicians from Philadelphia Prestige Records artists Riverside Records artists Soul-jazz pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century American male musicians