Makanda Ken McIntyre (born Kenneth Arthur McIntyre; also known as Ken McIntyre) (September 7, 1931 – June 13, 2001) 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 ...

musician, composer and educator. In addition to his primary instrument, the alto saxophone, he played flute, bass clarinet, oboe, bassoon, double bass, drums, and piano.

Biography

McIntyre was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States. His father played mandolin. McIntyre started his musical life on the bugle when he was eight years old, followed by piano. In his teens he discovered the music of

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

and began playing saxophone at nineteen, then clarinet and flute two years later. In 1953 he served in the Army and played saxophone and piano in Japan. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, he attended the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded o ...

where he studied with

Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983), later in life changing his name to Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing ...

Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophone, saxophonist who focused on the alto saxophone, alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biogra ...

, and Andy McGhee. In 1958 he received a degree in flute and composition with a master's degree the next year in composition. He also received a doctorate ( Ed.D.) in curriculum design from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

in 1975. In 1960 he recorded as a leader with

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...

. Beginning the next year, and for the next six years, he taught music in public schools. He took oboe lessons in New York before playing with

Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...

Jaki Byard John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for h ...

, and the

Jazz Composer's Orchestra The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group, founded by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler in 1965, to perform orchestral avant-garde jazz. Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon which grew out ...

. Then he spent three years with pianist

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

. During the 1970s he recorded with

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) 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. It ...

and Beaver Harris and in the 1980s with

Craig Harris Craig S. Harris (born September 10, 1953) is an American jazz trombonist, who started working with Sun Ra in 1976. He also has worked with Abdullah Ibrahim, David Murray (saxophonist), David Murray, Lester Bowie, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers (jazz ...

and

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

. In 1971, he founded the first African American Music program in America at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, teaching for 24 years. He also taught at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-y ...

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. In the early 1990s, he changed his name to Makanda Ken McIntyre. While performing in Zimbabwe, a stranger handed him a piece of paper with the word "Makanda" written on it; the word means "many skins" in the Ndebele language and "many heads" in Shona. McIntyre died of a heart attack in New York City, at the age of 69 on June 13, 2001.

Discography

As leader

* '' Stone Blues'' (New Jazz, 1961) * '' Looking Ahead'' (New Jazz, 1961) * '' Year of the Iron Sheep'' (

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

, 1962) * ''Way, Way Out'' (United Artists, 1963) * ''

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were. After an event has occurred, people often believe ...

'' ( SteepleChase, 1974) * ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

'' ( SteepleChase, 1975) * '' Open Horizon'' ( SteepleChase, 1975) * '' Introducing the Vibrations'' ( SteepleChase, 1977) * '' Chasing the Sun'' ( SteepleChase, 1979) * ''Tribute'' (Serene, 1991) * '' A New Beginning'' (Passin' Thru, 2001) * '' In the Wind: The Woodwind Quartets'' (Passin' Thru, 2004) recorded in 1995 and 1996

As sideman

With

* '' Dream Keeper'' (DIW, 1990) * '' The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra'' (Verve, 1999) * ''Live in Montreal'' (Image Entertainment, 2002) With Beaver Harris * ''Beautiful Africa'' (Soul Note, 1979) * ''Negcaumongus'' (Cadence, 1981) * ''Live at Nyon'' (Cadence, 1981) * ''Safe'' (Red, 1980) 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 ...

* ''Quartet'' (FreeFactory, 2009 ) * '' Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5'' (Savoy, 1964) With others *

, '' Don't Look Back'' ( SteepleChase, 1976) *

, ''Fire Waltz'' (Prestige, 1978) *

Honi Gordon Honi Gordon (sometimes Honey Gordon) was a jazz vocalist. Career Honi Gordon sang as a member of the Gordons (with her father and two brothers) in the early 1950s.Henderson, Ale"Honi Gordon" AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2017. Her first recordings, ...

, '' Honi Gordon Sings'' (Prestige, 1962) *

, ''Aboriginal Affairs'' (India Navigation, 1983) *

, ''

Communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

'' (Fontana, 1966) *

Michael Mantler Michael Mantler (born August 10, 1943) is an Austrian avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer of contemporary music. Career: United States Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria. In the early 1960s, he was a student at the Academy of Music and V ...

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...

, ''13 & 3/4'' (1975) *

, '' Unit Structures'' (Blue Note, 1966)

References

External links

Makanda Ken McIntyre discography
at JazzDiscography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Makanda Ken 1931 births 2001 deaths Drummers from Boston Jazz musicians from Massachusetts Central State University faculty State University of New York at Old Westbury faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni Wesleyan University faculty 20th-century American composers 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists African-American pianists American bassoonists American double-bassists American jazz alto saxophonists American jazz oboists American male composers American male drummers American male pianists American male saxophonists American multi-instrumentalists Bass clarinetists American male double-bassists American male jazz musicians American male oboists 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century American flautists