Frank Gant (born May 26, 1931- July 19, 2021) was an American jazz

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

. Born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Gant recorded with

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) 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 era, recording over ...

, and extensively with

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in the United States. Although Lateef's main i ...

in the late 1950s and then

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 ...

before becoming a member of

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

's trio (1966-1976). His first gigs were with

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...

and Pepper Adams, and after working with Little John Wilson and his Merry Men at the Madison Ballroom, including four days backing

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

, he went on to join Alvin Jackson's house band at the Blue Bird. As the house drummer at Detroit's Club 12, with Jackson's band, he backed

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

and Charlie Rouse in September 1959. In the 1970s, he accompanied Jamil Nasser and Harold Mabern as the rhythm section for workshops run by Cobi Narita.Gourse, Leslie (1996) ''Madame Jazz: Contemporary Women Instrumentalists'', p. 62. Oxford University Press
At Google Books. Retrieved 20 July 2013.

Discography

As sideman

;With Sonny Stitt *1958: ''

'' *1960: '' Burnin''' (recorded 1958) ;With Yusef Lateef *1958: '' Lateef at Cranbrook'' *1959: '' The Dreamer'' *1959: '' The Fabric of Jazz'' *1960: '' Cry! - Tender'' ;With Red Garland *1962: '' The Nearness of You'' *1962: '' Solar'' *1984: '' Misty Red'' ;With Ahmad Jamal *1966: ''

Heat Wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

'' *1968: ''

Tranquility Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism—where the term refers to ...

'' *1970: '' The Awakening'' *1971: '' Freeflight'' *1971: '' Outertimeinnerspace'' *1976: '' Recorded Live at Oil Can Harry's'' With Al Haig *1977: '' Manhattan Memories'' (Sea Breeze, re. 1983) With others *1955: '' Byrd Jazz'' – Donald Byrd *1958: '' Breakin' It Up'' – Barry Harris *1964: '' Proof Positive'' – J. J. Johnson ( Impulse!) *1979: '' Monty Alexander in Tokyo'' –

Monty Alexander Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was in ...

with Gant and Andy Simpkins *1986: ''Moonray'' – Adam Makowicz with Gant, Jamil Nasser, Deborah Henson-Conant and Ed Saindon

References

American jazz drummers 1931 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Drummers from Detroit Jazz musicians from Michigan {{US-jazz-drummer-stub