Carl Perkins (August 16, 1928 – March 17, 1958) 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.

Biography

Perkins was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

but worked mainly in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is best remembered for his performances with the Curtis Counce Quintet, which also featured

Harold Land Harold de Vance Land (December 18, 1928 – July 27, 2001) was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style, often rivalling Clifford ...

Jack Sheldon Beryl Cyril "Jack" Sheldon Jr. (November 30, 1931 – December 27, 2019) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and actor. He performed on ''The Merv Griffin Show'' and participated in episodes of the educational music television series ''Scho ...

and drummer Frank Butler. He also performed with

Tiny Bradshaw Myron Carlton "Tiny" Bradshaw (September 23, 1907 – November 26, 1958) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, composer, pianist, and drummer. His biggest hit was "Well Oh Well" in 1950, and the following year he record ...

Big Jay McNeely Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American R&B saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played baritone saxophon ...

in 1948–49, and played dates with

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 ...

in 1950. Following a short stint in the Army (January 1951 to November 1952), he worked intermittently with the Oscar Moore Trio (1953-1955) and the

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car crash, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Sprin ...

–

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

group in 1954. He recorded with

Frank Morgan Francis Phillip Wuppermann (June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949), known professionally as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor. He was best known for his appearances in films starting in the silent era in 1916, and then numerous sound ...

in 1955, and with his own group in 1956. Perkins composed the

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

"Grooveyard". His playing was influenced by his

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

-affected left arm, which he held parallel to the keyboard. He used his elbow to play deep bass notes. He was thus known as "the crab". He died of a drug overdose at age 29, in Los Angeles, California. He recorded one album, ''Introducing Carl Perkins'', and a short series of singles under his own name. Authors Paul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill cite Perkins as one of the best "funky", or

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

, piano players, but his early death prevented him from leaving a legacy.

Discography

As leader

*" Summertime" b/w "Lullaby in Rhythm" (Savoy, 1949) Single, with Edwin Perkins (b), Herb Williams (d) *"The Rosary" b/w "

Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...

" (Savoy, 1949) Single, with unknown bass and drums *"

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy ''Roberta (musical), Roberta''. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. It was first recor ...

" b/w " I'll Never Smile Again" (Savoy, 1949) Single, with unknown bass and drums *'' Introducing Carl Perkins'' (Dootone, 1956) Perkins's only album as leader. With Leroy Vinnegar (b), Lawrence Marable (d)

Shared leadership

*''Jazz Pianists Galore'' (Pacific, 1957) Perkins plays on one track *''Piano Playhouse'' (Mode, 1957) Perkins plays four solo tracks; others are by Jimmy Rowles, Lou Levy, Paul Smith, Gerald Wiggins

As sideman

With

Pepper Adams Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a s ...

*'' Pepper Adams Quintet'' (Mode, 1957) 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 ...

and Art Pepper *'' Playboys'' (Pacific Jazz, 1956) With

and

*''The Best of Max Roach and Clifford Brown In Concert!'' (GNP, 1954) With Curtis Counce *'' The Curtis Counce Group'' (Contemporary, 1956) *'' You Get More Bounce with Curtis Counce!'' (Contemporary, 1957) *'' Carl's Blues'' (Contemporary, 1957) With

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

*''Plays Benny Goodman'' (Verve, 1957) *''Wholly Cats'' (Verve, 1957) *''Closed Session'' (Verve, 1957) *''I Hear Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw'' (Verve, 1957) With

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

*'' Vic Feldman on Vibes'' (Mode, 1957) With

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

*'' Jazz Recital'' (Norgran, 1955) With

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

*'' Dexter Blows Hot and Cool'' (Dootone, 1955) With Jim Hall *''

Jazz Guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using Guitar amplifier, electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their ...

'' (Pacific Jazz, 1957) With

Illinois Jacquet Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on " Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. He is also known as one of the w ...

*''Collates'' (Clef, 1951) *'' Illinois Jacquet and His Orchestra'' (Verve, 1956) With

Richie Kamuca Richard "Richie" Kamuca (July 23, 1930 – July 22, 1977) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Musical career Kamuca was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and, like many players associated with West Coast jazz, grew up in the ...

*''Richie Kamuca Quartet'' (Mode, 1957) With

*'' Harold in the Land of Jazz originally titled as Grooveyard'' (Contemporary, 1958) With Oscar Moore *''Oscar Moore Trio'' (Skylark, 1954) With

*''

'' (Gene Norman Presents, 1955) With

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

*''The Complete Art Pepper Aladdin Recordings'' (Blue Note, 1957) The Perkins recordings were released long after recording With

Stuff Smith Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith (August 14, 1909 – September 25, 1967), better known as Stuff Smith, was an American jazz violinist. He is well known for the song " If You're a Viper" (the original title was "You'se a Viper"). Smith was, al ...

*''Have Violin, Will Swing'' (Verve, 1957) With Leroy Vinnegar *'' Leroy Walks!'' (Contemporary, 1958)

References

External links

Comprehensive Carl Perkins DiscographyCurtis Counce featuring Perkins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Carl 1928 births 1958 deaths Musicians from Indianapolis 20th-century American pianists American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Bebop pianists Drug-related deaths in California West Coast jazz pianists 20th-century American male musicians American musicians with disabilities