Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) 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 ...

trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AA ...

and co-founded the

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jaz ...

Biography

Born in the historic village of Bartonsville in

Frederick County, Maryland Frederick County is located in Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick, Maryland, Frederick. The county is part of the Washington metropolitan area, ...

, United States, Bowie grew up in

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. At the age of five, he started studying the trumpet with his father, a professional musician. He played with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musicians such as

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

and

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

, and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

stars such as

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called ...

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

, and

Rufus Thomas Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Re ...

. In 1965, he became

Fontella Bass Fontella Marie Bass (; July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter best known for her number-one R&B hit " Rescue Me" in 1965. She was nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life Fontella Bass was bor ...

's musical director and husband. He was a co-founder of Black Artists Group (BAG) in St Louis. In 1966, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a studio musician, and met

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

and

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

and became a member of the AACM. In 1968, he founded the

with Mitchell,

Joseph Jarman Joseph Jarman (September 14, 1937 – January 9, 2019) was an American jazz musician, composer, poet, and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and a member of the ...

, and Malachi Favors. He remained a member of this group for the rest of his life, and was also a member of

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, B ...

's New Directions quartet. He lived and worked in Jamaica and Nigeria, and played and recorded with

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

. Bowie's onstage appearance, in a white lab coat, with his goatee waxed into two points, was an important part of the Art Ensemble's stage show. In 1984, he formed Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, a brass nonet in which Bowie demonstrated jazz's links to other forms of popular music, a decidedly more populist approach than that of the Art Ensemble. With this group he recorded songs previously associated with

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

, along with other material. His New York Organ Ensemble featured James Carter and Amina Claudine Myers. In the mid-1980s, he was also part of the jazz supergroup The Leaders, which included tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, drummer Famoudou Don Moye, pianist

Kirk Lightsey Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born 15 February 1937), is an American jazz pianist. Biography Lightsey had piano instruction from the age of five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After serving in the army, Lightsey worked in Detr ...

, and bassist

Cecil McBee Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of classic jazz albums. Biography Early life and career McBee was b ...

. In 1991, Bowie recorded the opening theme for the eighth and final season of the television series ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

''. Although seen as part of the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, Bowie embraced techniques from the whole history of jazz trumpet, filling his music with humorous smears, blats, growls, half-valve effects, and so on. His affinity for

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

is exemplified by his composition "Ska Reggae Hi-Bop", which he performed with the Skatalites on their 1994 ''Hi-Bop Ska'', and also with James Carter on '' Conversin' with the Elders''. He also appeared on the 1994

Red Hot Organization ''Red Hot Organization'' (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors ...

's compilation album, '' Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool''. The album, which was produced to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African-American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. In 1993, he played on the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

album ''

Black Tie White Noise ''Black Tie White Noise'' is the eighteenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following Bowie's marri ...

'', including the song "Looking for Lester", which was named after him. (Lester and David Bowie are not related—David Bowie's birth name was David Jones.) Bowie took an adventurous and humorous approach to music and criticized

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

for his conservative approach to jazz tradition. Bowie died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 1999 at his

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in north-central Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. It is bordered by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Flushing Avenue to the north, Williamsburg to the northeast, Classon Avenue and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the ea ...

, New York house he shared with second wife Deborah for 20 years. The following year, he was inducted into the ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' Jazz Hall of Fame. In 2001, the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded '' Tribute to Lester''. In 2020, Bowie was featured in a mural painted by Rafael Blanco in his hometown of Frederick, Maryland.

Discography

As leader

Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy

Lester Bowie's New York Organ Ensemble

With the Art Ensemble of Chicago

With the Leaders

* '' Mudfoot'' (Black Hawk), 1986 * '' Out Here Like This'' (Black Saint), 1986 * '' Unforeseen Blessings'' (Black Saint), 1988 * '' Slipping and Sliding'' (Sound Hills), 1994

As sideman

With

* ''

'' (Savage, 1993) With James Carter * '' Conversin' with the Elders'' (Atlantic, 1995) With

* '' New Directions'' (ECM, 1978) * '' New Directions in Europe'' (ECM, 1979) * ''

Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

'' (MCA, 1989) With

Brigitte Fontaine Brigitte Fontaine (born 24 June 1939) is a French singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereola ...

* ''Comme à la Radio'' (Saravah, 1971) With Melvin Jackson * ''Funky Skull'' (Limelight, 1969) With

* ''

Stalemate Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position ...

'' (Afrodisia, 1977) * '' No Agreement'' (Afrodisia, 1977) * '' Sorrow Tears and Blood'' (Kalakuta Records, 1977) * '' Fear not for man'' (Afrodisia, 1977) With

Frank Lowe Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Francisco, where h ...

* ''Fresh'' (Freedom, 1975) With Jimmy Lyons * ''Free Jazz No. 1'' (Concert Hall, 1969) * '' Other Afternoons'' (BYG, 1970) With

* ''

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

'' (Delmark, 1966) With David Murray * '' Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club'' (India Navigation, 1978) With

Sunny Murray James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...

* ''

Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...

'' (BYG, 1969) * '' Homage to Africa'' (BYG, 1969) With Charles Bobo Shaw *''Under the Sun'' (Freedom, 1973) * ''Streets of St. Louis'' (Moers Music, 1974) With

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

* '' Yasmina, a Black Woman'' (BYG, 1969) * '' Blasé'' (BYG, 1969) * '' Pitchin Can'' (America, 1970) * '' Coral Rock'' (America, 1970) With Alan Silva * ''

Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

'' (BYG, 1971) With

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the field of creative music. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Freedom Summers'', released on ...

* ''

Divine Love Love of God can mean either love for God or love by God. Love for God (''philotheia'') is associated with the concepts of worship, and devotions towards God. The Greek term ''theophilia'' means the love or favour of God, and ''theophilos'' me ...

'' (ECM, 1979) With others * ''Funky Donkey Vol. 1 & 2'' (Atavistic) ( Luther Thomas & the Human Arts Ensemble) * ''Under the Sun'' (Universal Justice) 1974 ( Human Arts Ensemble) * ''Funky Donkey'' 1977 (Circle) ( Luther Thomas Creative Ensemble) * ''Free to Dance'' (Black Saint), 1978 ( Marcello Melis) * ''6 x 1 = 10 Duos for a New Decade'' (Circle), 1980 ( John Fischer) * ''The Razor's Edge/Strangling Me With Your Love'' (Hannibal, 12"), 1982 ( Defunkt) * ''The Ritual'' (Sound Aspects), 1985 ( Kahil El'Zabar) * '' Meet Danny Wilson'' (Virgin), 1987 ( Danny Wilson) * ''Sacred Love'' (Sound Aspects), 1988 (Kahil El'Zabar) * ''Avoid The Funk'' (Hannibal), 1988 (Defunkt) * ''Environ Days'' (Konnex), 1991 (John Fischer) * ''Cum Funky'' (Enemy), 1994 ( Defunkt) * ''Hi-Bop Ska'', 1994 ( Skatalites) * '' Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool'' (Impulse!), 1994 (Various Artists) appears on one track with

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgen ...

* ''Bluesiana Hurricane'' (Shanachie), 1995 with

Bill Doggett William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk ...

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

, Bobby Watson,

Will Calhoun William Calhoun (born July 22, 1964) is an American drummer who is a member of the rock band Living Colour. Career Calhoun was born in the Bronx, New York. He moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with a mu ...

, and Sue Foley * '' Buddy Bolden's Rag'' (Delmark), 1995 ( Malachi Thompson & Africa Brass) * ''Not Two'' (Biodro Records), 1995 ( Miłość and Lester Bowie) * ''No Ways Tired'' (Nonesuch), 1995 (

) * ''Mac's Smokin' Section'' (McKenzie), 1996 ( Mac Gollehon) * ''Hello Friend: To Ennis with Love'' (Verve), 1997 (

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

) * '' My Secret Life'' (Calliope), 1998 (

Sonia Dada Sonia Dada was an American rock, soul, and rhythm and blues band, formed in Chicago in 1990. Founding member Daniel Pritzker enlisted Michael Scott, Paris Delane, and Sam Hogan after hearing the latter three sing in a subway station.Biography ...

) * ''Amore Pirata'' (Il Manifesto), 1998 (Lorenzo Gasperoni Mamud Band feat. Lester Bowie) * ''Smokin' Live'' (McKenzie), 1999 (Mac Gollehon) * '' G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time'' (

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

), 1999 (

Guy Sigsworth Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...

) * ''

Talkin' About Life And Death ''Talkin' About Life and Death'' is an album by Polish jazz band, Miłość, and American jazz musician, Lester Bowie. The songs were recorded in two days in July 1997 in Gdańsk. The album includes a variety of songs such as " Venus in Furs" ...

'' (Biodro Records), 1999 (Miłość and Lester Bowie) * ''

Test Pattern A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at sign-on and sign-off). Used since the ear ...

'' (Razor & Tie), 2004 (Sonia Dada) * ''Hiroshima'' (Art Yard), 2007 (The Sun Ra All Stars Band) * ''The Ancestors Are Amongst Us'' (Katalyst, recorded live at Jazzfestival Saafelden August 28, 1987 and released 2010) - with Kahil El'Zabar and the Ritual Trio

References

Additional sources

* * *

External links

Lester Bowie
at the

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowie, Lester 1941 births 1999 deaths African-American jazz musicians American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American male jazz composers Avant-garde jazz trumpeters Free funk trumpeters Free jazz trumpeters Jazz-pop trumpeters Jazz-funk trumpeters Post-bop trumpeters Progressive big band musicians Art Ensemble of Chicago members Jazz musicians from Chicago Jazz musicians from St. Louis People from Frederick, Maryland Deaths from liver cancer in New York (state) Nessa Records artists ECM Records artists 20th-century American trumpeters Jazz musicians from Maryland 20th-century American male musicians People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn Human Arts Ensemble members The Leaders members Improvising Artists Records artists 20th-century American jazz composers Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century African-American musicians DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members