Gil Coggins (died February 15, 2004) 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist. Coggins was born to parents of

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

heritage.Gil Coggins
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

His mother was a pianist and had her son start on piano from an early age. He attended school in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. In

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, New York City, he attended

The High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as Music & Art (or M&A), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High Sc ...

.Randy Weston and Willard Jenkins, "African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston," Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 2010, 25 In 1946, Coggins met

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

while stationed at

Jefferson Barracks The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. After his discharge he began playing piano professionally, working with Davis on several of his

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

and

Prestige Prestige may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films *Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband *The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...

releases. Coggins also recorded with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

's Jazz Messengers,

Ray Draper Raymond Allen Draper (August 3, 1940, New York City – November 1, 1982) was an American jazz tuba player. Early life and education Draper was born in New York City and attended the Manhattan School of Music in the mid-1950s. Career As a ...

, and

Jackie McLean John Lenwood McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their death. Bio ...

. Coggins gave up playing jazz professionally in 1954 and took up a career in real estate, playing music only occasionally. He did not record as a leader until 1990, when Interplay Records released ''Gil's Mood''. He continued performing through the 1990s and 2000s until 2004, when he died from complications sustained in a

car crash A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

eight months earlier in

Forest Hills, New York Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast and Flushing ...

. ''Better Late Than Never'', his second album recorded as a leader, was released posthumously.

Discography

*''Gil's Mood'' (Interplay, 1990) *''Better Late Than Never'' (2003)

As sideman

With

*''

Miles Davis Volume 1 ''Miles Davis, Volumes 1 & 2'' are a pair of separate but related albums by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis recorded on May 9, 1952, April 20, 1953 and March 6, 1954 and released on Blue Note early 1956. The three sessions were originally rel ...

'' (

, 1956) *''

Miles Davis Volume 2 ''Miles Davis, Vol. 2'' is the fifth 10-inch LP by trumpeter Miles Davis, recorded on April 20, 1953 and released on Blue Note later that year—his second session and first release for the label. Background Personal life The recording was ...

'' (Blue Note, 1956) With

*''

The Ray Draper Quintet featuring John Coltrane ''The Ray Draper Quintet featuring John Coltrane'' is the second album by tuba player Ray Draper recorded in 1957 and released on the New Jazz label. Reception Scott Yanow of AllMusic reviewed the album: "Draper had ambitious dreams of making ...

'' ( New Jazz, 1957) With

*''

Fat Jazz ''Fat Jazz'', also referred to as ''Jackie McLean Plays Fat Jazz'', is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean, which was recorded in late 1957 and released by the Jubilee label in 1959.

'' (

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

, 1959) *'' Makin' the Changes'' (New Jazz, 1960) *'' A Long Drink of the Blues'' (New Jazz, 1961) *'' Strange Blues'' (

, 1967)

References

External links

Memorial site
created by Coggins's family
Gil Coggins
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Gil Coggins
at

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coggins, Gil Year of birth uncertain 2004 deaths American male jazz pianists 20th-century American pianists The High School of Music & Art alumni Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians Musicians from Manhattan People from Harlem Road incident deaths in New York (state) American people of West Indian descent