Howard Wales (February 8, 1943 – December 7, 2020) was an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

who worked in a wide variety of styles. He was a collaborator with Jerry Garcia in the early 1970s. Wales was a session player for many musical acts, including

Ronnie Hawkins Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He ...

Freddie King Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Most ...

, James Brown, and the Four Tops. Though he was adept at accompanying rock and R&B artists, he also played free-form jazz. Later in his career he released several solo albums in this style. For several months in 1970, Wales led Monday night jazz-rock jam sessions at

the Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

, a club in San Francisco. Jerry Garcia usually played guitar at these free-form performances. The two were often joined by

John Kahn John Kahn (June 13, 1947 – May 30, 1996) was an American electric and acoustic bassist. From 1970 to 1995, Kahn was Jerry Garcia's principal musical collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead. Biography John Kahn was born in Memphis, Tennessee ...

on bass and

Bill Vitt Bill Vitt (May 6, 1943 - July 16, 2019, aged 76) was an American drummer and keyboardist. He worked extensively as a live performer and as a session musician. In the 1970s he played with Brewer & Shipley, Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, and the S ...

on drums. A studio album called '' Hooteroll?'', with these musicians and others, and featuring music composed mostly by Wales, was released in 1971. A live album recorded at the Matrix jam sessions, '' Side Trips, Volume One'', was released in 1998. Wales contributed to the 1970 Grateful Dead album '' American Beauty''. He played organ on the songs "

Truckin' "Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album '' American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' . Jake Wo ...

" and "Candyman", and piano on "Brokedown Palace". Wales had a cerebral hemorrhage in November 2020 and died on December 7, 2020, at the age of 77.

Discography

Howard Wales * ''Rendezvous with the Sun'' (1976) * ''The Monk in the Mansion'' (1992) * ''Complex Simplex'' (2001) * ''Between Two Worlds'' (2006) * ''Life Is a Trip'' (2009) * ''Faces'' (2012) * ''Overview'' (2014) * ''Undisclosed Location'' (2018) Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia * '' Hooteroll?'' (1971) * '' Side Trips, Volume One'' (1998) With other artists * ''A.B. Skhy'' – A.B. Skhy (1969) * ''Music of El Topo'' – Shades of Joy (1970) * '' American Beauty'' – Grateful Dead (1970) * ''Baby Batter'' –

Harvey Mandel Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career. Early life Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, ...

(1971) * ''Electronic Progress'' – Harvey Mandel (1971) * ''The Runner'' – Jeff Jolly Band (1996) * ''Planetary Warrior'' – Harvey Mandel (1997) * ''Changer L'Horizon'' – Rod and the Shotgun Blues (1998) * ''Berkeley Soul'' – Sy Klopps (2000) * ''Raw Material'' – Jeff Jolly (2001) * ''Mosaique'' – Rocío Guitard (2002) * ''Harvey Mandel and the Snake Crew'' – Harvey Mandel (2006) * ''The Wax Still Drips'' – Stackabones (2011)

References

External links

Howard Wales
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wales, Howard American rock keyboardists 1943 births 2020 deaths