Robert Henry Timmons (December 19, 1935 – March 1, 1974) 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 and composer. He was a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

's Jazz Messengers for two periods (July 1958 to September 1959; February 1960 to June 1961), between which he was part of

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

's band. Several of Timmons' compositions written when part of these bands – including "

Moanin' ''Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers'', also called ''Moanin, is a studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded on October 30, 1958, and released on Blue Note Records, Blue Note later that year. Background This was Blakey's firs ...

", "

Dat Dere "Dat Dere" is a jazz song written by Bobby Timmons that was recorded in 1960. Lyrics were written later by Oscar Brown, Jr. Recording and lyrics The song was first recorded by Bobby Timmons in his debut album '' This Here Is Bobby Timmons'' (J ...

", and "This Here" – enjoyed commercial success and brought him more attention. In the early and mid-1960s he led a series of

piano trios A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

that toured and recorded extensively. Timmons was strongly associated with the

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sa ...

style that he helped initiate. This link to apparently simple writing and playing, coupled with drug and alcohol addiction, led to a decline in his career. Timmons died, aged 38, from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

. Several critics have commented that his contribution to jazz remains undervalued.

Early life

Timmons was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, the son of a minister.Kernfeld, Barr
"Timmons, Bobby"
''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'' (2nd edition). Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved July 29, 2013. (Subscription required.) He had a sister, Eleanor.Panken, Te
"For the 78th Birthday Anniversary of Bobby Timmons (1935–1974), a Liner Note and Five Interviews Conducted for It"
(December 19, 2013). Transcript of interview with Tootie Heath. tedpanken.wordpress.com Both of his parents, and several aunts and uncles, played the piano. From an early age Timmons studied music with an uncle, Robert Habershaw, who also taught

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

. Timmons first played at the church where his grandfather was minister;Panken, Ted. In ''The Best of Bobby Timmons''

iner notes Iner or INER may refer to: * Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, or INER * Iner Souster FemBots are a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto formed in 1998. FemBots are known for their unique sound of combining instrumental everyday items, junk ...

Fantasy. Reprinted a
"For the 78th Birthday Anniversary of Bobby Timmons (1935–1974), a Liner Note and Five Interviews Conducted for It"
(December 19, 2013), tedpanken.wordpress.com. this influenced his later jazz playing. He grew up in the same area as other future musicians, including the Heath brothers (

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

, Percy, and Tootie) and

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his la ...

. Timmons' first professional performances were in his local area, often as a trio that included Tootie Heath on drums. After graduating from high school Timmons was awarded a scholarship to study at the

Philadelphia Musical Academy Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

1954 to spring 1961

Timmons moved to New York in 1954. He played with

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and occasional singer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention ...

in 1956, making his recording debut with the trumpeter in a live set in May of that year. He went on to play and record 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 ...

in 1956–57 (bassist

Scott LaFaro Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 – July 6, 1961) was an American jazz double bassist known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro broke new ground on the instrument, developing a countermelodic style of accompaniment rather than playi ...

was part of this band for a time),

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...

in 1957, and

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 ...

in 1957–58. He also recorded as a

with hornmen

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 193 ...

Hank Mobley Henry Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neithe ...

, and Morgan. all for

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

in 1957. Timmons became best known as a member of

's band the Jazz Messengers, which he was first part of from July 1958 to September 1959, including for a tour of Europe. He was recruited for the Messengers by saxophonist

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

, who said that "He was inventive, ..He could play

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 ...

and he could play funky – he could play a lot of things, and I thought it was the element that Art needed. He hadn't had anybody quite like Bobby, who could go here or go there, rather than walking in a single corridor." By late 1958 Timmons was sharing bandmate Morgan's East Sixth Street apartment and the pair had bought a piano, allowing Timmons to practice and Morgan to work on composing.McMillan, Jeffery S. (2008), ''DelightfuLee: The Life and Music of Lee Morgan''. University of Michigan Press. From around the time he joined Blakey, Timmons, along with some of his fellow band members, was a heroin user. After leaving Blakey, Timmons joined

's band, in October 1959. Timmons was also known as a composer during this period: ''The Encyclopedia of Jazz'' states that his compositions "

" (from the 1958 album of the same title), "This Here", and "

" "helped generate the gospel-tinged '

' style of helate '50s and early '60s." The first was written when Timmons was first with Blakey; the others were composed when he was with Adderley.Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (eds) (2002), ''The All Music Guide to Jazz'', p. 1245. Backbeat Books. "This Here" (sometimes "Dis Here") was a surprise commercial success for Adderley: recorded in concert in 1959, it was released as part of '' The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco'' album while the band was still on tour, and they discovered its popularity only when they arrived back in New York and found crowds outside the

Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...

, where they were due to play.Sheridan, Chris (2000), ''Dis Here: A Bio-Discography of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley'', pp. 81–83. Greenwood Press. Timmons was reported to be dissatisfied with the money he had received from "This Here", and was enticed in February 1960 into leaving Adderley and returning to Blakey's band by the offer of more pay. Timmons then appeared on further well-known albums with the drummer, including ''

A Night in Tunisia "A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by American trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in 1942. He wrote it while he was playing with the Benny Carter band. It has become a jazz standard. It is also known as "Interlude", and with lyrics by R ...

'', '' The Freedom Rider'' and '' The Witch Doctor''. His own recording debut as sole leader was ''

This Here Is Bobby Timmons ''This Here Is Bobby Timmons'' is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1960 and released on the Riverside label.

'' in 1960, which contained his first versions of his best-known compositions. In the same year, he played on recordings led by

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 ...

Arnett Cobb Arnett Cleophus Cobb (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989)
accessed July 2010. was an American tenor saxophonist, somet ...

, and

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

, among others; on the first of these, ''

Work Song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either one sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or one linked to a task that may be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. An example is " I ...

'', Timmons did not appear on all of the tracks, because he had been drinking heavily.

Summer 1961 to 1974

Timmons left Blakey for the second time in June 1961, encouraged by the success of his compositions, including

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

plays of "Dat Dere", which

Oscar Brown Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, actor, and civil rights activist (Brown was African-American). Brown discovered The Jackson 5. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully ...

had recorded after adding lyrics. Timmons then formed his own bands, initially with

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a Cello, cellist who has reco ...

on bass and Tootie Heath on drums. They toured around the US, including the West Coast, but played most in and around New York. In the initial stages of this trio, Timmons liked the group sounds of the trios led by

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz ...

and

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

.Panken, Te
"For the 78th Birthday Anniversary of Bobby Timmons (1935–1974), a Liner Note and Five Interviews Conducted for It"
(December 19, 2013). Transcript of interview with Ron Carter. tedpanken.wordpress.com According to Tootie Heath, Timmons was at the peak of his fame at that point, but was addicted to heroin, and used a lot of the money that the band was paid maintaining his habit.Iverson, Ethan (November 2009)

. dothemath.typepad.com In 1963, Timmons' playing, with Lewis Powers on bass and Roy McCurdy on drums, was described by a ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' reviewer as "flexible and adventuresome ..Glossing over everything is an undeniable sheen of church music and spirituals." In 1965, the same reviewer commented that Timmons was employing musicians who were of much lower ability: "Timmons lacks a certain passion but I wonder if this is not the fault of his sidemen." Timmons started playing vibes in the mid-1960s."Jazz Pianist, Composer of 'Moanin. (March 3, 1974), ''The Washington Post'', p. D4. He occasionally played organ, but recorded only one track on that instrument – a 1964 version of "Moanin on '' From the Bottom''. Recordings as a leader continued, usually as part of a trio or quartet, but, after joining

Milestone Records Milestone Records is an American jazz record company and label founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was bought by Fantasy Records in 1972. Since then, it has produced LP reissues (including items from Ke ...

around 1967, Timmons' album ''

Got to Get It! ''Got to Get It!'' is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1967 and released on the Milestone label.

'' featured him as part of a nonet, playing arrangements by

Tom McIntosh Thomas S. "Tom" McIntosh (February 6, 1927 - July 26, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. McIntosh was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of six siblings. He also had an elder half-sibling by his fath ...

. Timmons' career declined quickly in the 1960s, in part because of drug abuseGiddins, Gary (March 7, 1974), "Bobby Timmons, 1935–1974" ''The Village Voice'', pp. 45, 50. and alcoholism, and partly as a result of being typecast as a composer and player of seemingly simple pieces of music. In 1968 he made his second - and final - recording for Milestone, '' Do You Know the Way?'' In the following year, he played in a quartet led by

Sonny Red Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with Art Blakey, Curtis Fuller, ...

, 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 ...

on one of the saxophonist's temporary returns to the US from Europe, and in a trio backing vocalist

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene Ammo ...

. Timmons continued to play in the early 1970s, mostly in small groups or in combination with other pianists, and mainly in the New York area. According to saxophonist

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...

, Timmons joined

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

's big band for a tour of Europe in 1974.Heath, Jimmy, and McLaren, Joseph (2010), ''I Walked with Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath'', p. 162. Temple University Press. He was unwell and drank on the plane to Sweden, and fell while drinking at the bar before the band's first concert, in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. Susceptible to blood clotting, he was flown back to the US. On March 1, 1974, he died from

, at the age of 38, at St Vincent's Hospital in New York."Bobby Timmons, 38, Jazz Pianist, Dead". (March 2, 1974), ''The New York Times'', p. 34. He had been in hospital for a month. He was buried in Philadelphia, and was survived by his wife, Estelle, and son, also Bobby.

Playing style and influence

Timmons was known for using

block chord A block chord is a chord or voicing built directly below the melody either on the strong beats or to create a four-part harmonized melody line in " locked-hands" rhythmic unison with the melody, as opposed to broken chords. This latter style, ...

s, "a style in which the right hand creates the melody and the left hand moves with the rhythm of the right hand, but does not change voicing except to accommodate the chord changes."Fulton, Champian (September 2011), "The Transcendent Aesthetics of the Block Chord Language". ''Down Beat'', p. 60. His use of them was more aggressive, and less melodic, than that of Red Garland. ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' suggested that "Timmons' characteristic style was a rolling, gospelly funk, perhaps longer on sheer energy than on harmonic sophistication." Cook, Richard, and Morton, Brian (2004), ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' (7th edition), Penguin. In the opinion of

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, stylistically, "somehow Bobby Timmons never grew beyond where he was in 1960."

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins (born 1948) is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986, Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented conc ...

, however, highlighted other facets of Timmons' playing: the "lush udPowell-inspired ballads, his clear, sharp, unsentimental long lines." Carter also identified Powell as a primary influence on Timmons, and commented that his partner in the trio "was very giving, very loyal, played every night like it was his last chance to get it right." The funky aspects of Timmons' playing influenced fellow pianists, including

Les McCann Leslie Coleman McCann (September 23, 1935 – December 29, 2023) was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. He is known for his innovations in soul jazz and his Swiss Movement, 1969 recording of the protest song "Compared to What". His music ha ...

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

, and Benny Green. Timmons is often mentioned as being under-rated; jazz writer

Marc Myers Marc Myers (born September 4, 1956) is an American journalist, author of five books and a regular contributor to ''The Wall Street Journal'', where he writes on music, the arts and celebrities. In 2007, he founded ''JazzWax'', a leading daily jaz ...

commented in 2008 that "today, Timmons' contribution to jazz – as an accompanist, writer, leader and innovator of a new sound – is vastly overlooked and undervalued."Myers, Marc (January 7, 2008)
"This Here Is Bobby Timmons"
JazzWax . .

Compositions

Timmons wrote "a steady stream of infectious funky tunes", stated Giddins. Timmons dismissed the idea that he was deliberately a composer: "I'm a dilettante as a composer. I have never consciously sat down and tried to write a song."Pagones, John (February 16, 1964), "Timmons Shuns Composer Role". ''The Washington Post'', p. G4. He suggested that his method of composing a new song might involve "whistling, playing around with the notes, or at a club. I'll tell one musician to play this note, another that note, and we kick it around." One account of the creation of "Moanin was given by Golson: Timmons had the opening eight bars, which he often played between tunes, but formed the complete song only after Golson encouraged him to add a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Personality

Tootie Heath reported that, when they were on tour and Timmons was addicted to heroin, Timmons would routinely lie and sometimes pull out a knife to threaten people. On the other hand, Ron Carter, the bassist from that tour, asserted that Timmons offered his bandmates a lot of encouragement to experiment and improve from performance to performance, and that he "was a really multi-talented person and he was just a real sweetheart, a sweetheart of a man". In Golson's words, Timmons "had no ego about him, ..He was always upbeat, never downbeat, and he never maligned anybody unless it was in a humorous way".

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

Sources:"Bobby Timmons: Credits"
AllMusic. Retrieved December 24, 2013.

Notes

References

External links

Timmons at AllMusicTimmons at jazzgiants.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmons, Bobby 1935 births 1974 deaths Alcohol-related deaths in New York City American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Atlantic Records artists Cannonball Adderley Quintet members Capitol Records artists Deaths from cirrhosis The Jazz Messengers members Mainstream jazz pianists American male jazz composers Milestone Records artists Jazz musicians from Philadelphia Prestige Records artists Riverside Records artists Soul-jazz pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American jazz composers 20th-century American male musicians