Malachi Favors (August 22, 1927 – January 30, 2004) was an American jazz bassist who played with 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

"Favors's tendency to dissemble about his age was a well-known source of mirth to fellow musicians of his generation". Most reference works give his year of birth of 1937, but, following his death, his daughter stated that it was 1927. Favors primarily played the

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, but also played the

electric bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...

gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

, and other instruments. He began playing

at the age of 15 and began performing professionally upon graduating from high school. Early performances included work 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 ...

and

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

. By 1965, he was a founder 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 a member of

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 ...

' Experimental Band. At some point he added the word "Maghostut" to his name and because of this he is commonly listed as "Malachi Favors Maghostut". Musically he is most associated with

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

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 ...

, and particularly

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

. Favors was a protégé of Chicago bassist

Wilbur Ware Wilbur Bernard Ware (September 8, 1923 – September 9, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 674. Oxford University Press He was a regular bassist for ...

. His first known recording was a 1953 session with tenor saxophonist

Paul Bascomb Paul Bascomb ( – December 2, 1986) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, noted for his extended tenure with Erskine Hawkins. He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Career Bascomb was a founding member of the Bama St ...

. He made an LP with Chicago pianist Andrew Hill (1959). Favors began working with

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 ...

in 1966; this group eventually became the

. Favors also worked outside the group, with artists including

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played alto s ...

. Prominent records include ''Natural & Spiritual'' (solo bass, 1978) and ''

Sightsong ''Sightsong'' is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams and Malachi Favors which was released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1976. In 1994 he played with

Roman Bunka Roman Bunka (2 December 1951 – 12 June 2022) was a German guitarist, oud player and composer, active in world music and jazz fusion bands. He lived most of his life in Munich, Bavaria, where he was involved in various musical crossover proj ...

(Oud) at Berlin Jazz Fest and recorded the 'German Critics Poll Winner' album, ''Color Me Cairo''. Favors died from pancreatic cancer in January 2004, at the age of 76.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* ''Natural & Spiritual'' ( AECO, 1978) * '' 2 x 4'' (Southport, 1999) with Tatsu Aoki * '' Live at Last'' (Rogueart, 2006)

With
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 ...

As sideman

With

Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band. Biography He began playing the trumpet at age 13 in his native New York City. One of the first groups he performed with wa ...

* '' Liquid Magic'' (Silkheart, 1987) With Fred Anderson * '' Black Horn Long Gone'' (Southport, 1993) With

Charles Brackeen Charles Brackeen (March 13, 1940, in Eufaula, Oklahoma, United States – November 5, 2021, Carson, California) was an American jazz saxophonist who primarily played tenor saxophone, but also played soprano saxophone. He was previously married to ...

* '' Bannar'' (Silkheart, 1987) With Bright Moments:

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 ...

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (March 24, 1936 – November 9, 2013) ...

Kahil El'Zabar Kahil El'Zabar (born Clifton Blackburn; November 11, 1953) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist (mainly a percussionist) and composer. He regularly records for Delmark Records. Life and work El'Zabar was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attend ...

and Adegoke Steve Colson * '' Return of the Lost Tribe'' (Delmark, 1998) With

* ''Color Me Cairo'' (Enja, 1995) With

* ''Sacred Love'' (Sound Aspects, 1985) * ''Another Kind of Groove'' (Sound Aspects, 1986) * ''The Ancestors Are Amongst Us'' (Katalyst Entertainment, 1987) * ''Alika Rising at Leverkusener Jazztage'' (Sound Aspects, 1989) * '' Renaissance of the Resistance'' (Delmark, 1993) * '' Big Cliff'' (Delmark, 1994) * '' Jitterbug Junction'' (CIMP, 1997) * '' Conversations'' (Delmark, 1999) with

* '' Africa N'Da Blues'' (Delmark, 1999) featuring

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

With

Dennis González Dennis González, often credited Dennis Gonzalez (August 15, 1954March 15, 2022), was an American jazz trumpeter, artist, and educator from Texas. He hosted ''Miles Out'' on KERA-FM for over twenty years. Early life González was born in Abilen ...

* '' Stefan'' (Silkheart, 1987) * ''

Namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

'' (Silkheart, 1987) With Andrew Hill * '' So in Love'' (Warwick, 1960) With Maurice McIntyre *''

Humility in the Light of the Creator ''Humility in the Light of the Creator'' is the debut album by the American jazz saxophonist Maurice McIntyre recorded in 1969 and released by the Delmark label.

'' (Delmark, 1969) With

* '' Before There Was Sound'' (Nessa, 1965; issued 2011) * ''

Nonaah ''Nonaah'' is a double album recorded in 1976-77 by Roscoe Mitchell. It was originally released on the Nessa label in 1977 and features solo, duo, trio and quartet performances by Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Malachi Favors, Muhal Richard Abrams, ...

'' (Nessa, 1977) * ''

The Flow of Things ''The Flow of Things'' is a live album by jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell recorded in 1986 for the Italian Black Saint label.

'' (Black Saint, 1986) * '' Hey Donald'' (Delmark, 1995) * '' The Day and the Night'' (Dizim, 1997) With

* ''

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 ''Homage to Africa'' (also released as ''Hommage to Africa'') is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Records, BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is join ...

'' (BYG, 1969) * '' An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker)'' (BYG, 1970) * '' Live at Moers Festival'' (Moers Music, 1979) With

* ''

Tarik Tariq () is an Arabic word and given name. Etymology The word is derived from the Arabic verb , ('), meaning "to strike", and into the agentive conjugated doer form , ('), meaning "striker". It became popular as a name after Tariq ibn Ziyad, a ...

'' (BYG, 1969) With

* ''

Blasé Blasé may refer to: * ''Blasé'' (album), an album by Archie Shepp * "Blasé" (song), a 2015 song by Ty Dolla Sign {{disambiguation ...

'' (BYG, 1969) With

Alan Silva Alan Lee da Silva (born 22 January 1939, in Bermuda) is an American free jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known as a double bassist. He has recorded on keyboards, violin, cello and trumpet among other instruments. Biography Silva was born a ...

*'' Luna Surface'' (BYG, 1969) *''

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 ...

* '' Reflectativity'' (Tzadik, 2000) * '' Golden Quartet'' (Tzadik, 2000) * '' The Year of the Elephant'' (Pi, 2002)

References

External links

"A Fireside Chat with Malachi Favors"
JazzWeekly.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Favors, Malachi American jazz bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists 1927 births 2004 deaths Art Ensemble of Chicago members Jazz musicians from Illinois Guitarists from Mississippi Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Illinois People from Lexington, Mississippi 20th-century American bass guitarists Guitarists from Chicago Jazz musicians from Mississippi 20th-century American double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians

Biography

Discography

As leader or co-leader

With 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 ...

As sideman

References

External links

With
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 ...