Michael Abene (born July 2, 1942) is 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 known for accompanying singers and arranging music.

Early life and education

Abene was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His father, grandfather, and aunt were musicians. He studied composition at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

Career

Abene has accompanied

Susannah McCorkle Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Life and career A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...

Julius La Rosa Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s. Early years La Rosa was born of Italian-immigrant parents in Brooklyn. He attende ...

, and others. He had his first

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

''Solo Piano'' in 1986. Abene co-produced the album ''Avant Gershwin'', which won the

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the vocal jazz ...

in 2007.

Discography

As leader

1986: ''You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby'' (recorded December 1984)

As sideman

With

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

*''

Maynard '62 ''Maynard '62'' is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in late 1961 and originally released on the Roulette label.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson discography accessed May 31, 2016 Reception AllMusic aw ...

'' (Roulette, 1962) *'' Si! Si! M.F.'' (Roulette, 1962) *'' Maynard '63'' (Roulette, 1962) *'' Message from Maynard'' (Roulette, 1962) * '' Maynard '64'' (Roulette 1959-62

963 Year 963 (Roman numerals, CMLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 15 – Emperor Romanos II dies at age 39, probably of poison administered by his wife, Emp ...

*'' The New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson'' (Cameo, 1963) *''

Come Blow Your Horn ''Come Blow Your Horn'' is Neil Simon's first play, which premiered on Broadway in 1961 and had a London production in 1962 at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Simon rewrote the script more than two dozen times over several years, resulting in a hit ...

'' (Cameo, 1963) *'' Color Him Wild'' (Mainstream, 1965) *'' The Blues Roar'' (Mainstream, 1965) *''

The Maynard Ferguson Sextet ''The Maynard Ferguson Sextet'' (also released as ''Six by Six'') is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in 1965 and originally released on the Mainstream label.Edwards, D., Callahan, Eyries, P., ...

'' (Mainstream, 1965) *'' Ridin' High'' (Enterprise, 1967) 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 ...

*''

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

'' (Solid State, 1969) With

Urbie Green Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green (August 8, 1926 – December 31, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle. He played on over 250 recordings and released more than twenty albums a ...

*'' The Fox'' (CTI, 1976) With

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin music (genre), Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group mod ...

*''Solar Heat'' (Skye, 1968)

References

Jazz arrangers 1942 births Living people 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz pianists {{US-jazz-pianist-stub