Yellowjackets is an American

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

band founded in 1977 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

History

In 1977, guitarist

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock music, rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets (band), Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harriso ...

, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist

Russell Ferrante Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer ...

, electric bassist

Jimmy Haslip James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group the Yellowjackets, which he left in 2012. He was also an early user of the five-string electric bass. Early life and ...

and drummer

Ricky Lawson William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson or Ricky Remo, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stev ...

. They decided to continue as a group and were signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

by producer

Tommy LiPuma Tommy LiPuma (July 5, 1936 – March 13, 2017) was an American music producer. His productions received 33 Grammy nominations and sold over 75 million albums. His six individual nominations resulted in five Grammy wins. LiPuma worked with many mus ...

, who chose the name "Yellowjackets" from a list of potential group names the band had compiled. In 1984, the band's second album, ''

Mirage a Trois ''Mirage a Trois'' is the second album of the American jazz group Yellowjackets, released in 1983. The album reached a peak position of number 145 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 7 on ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart. It was nominated for ...

'', was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Fusion Performance. Ford played on only half this album, and after he departed the group, saxophonist

Marc Russo The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band from San Jose, California. Formed in the fall of 1970, the group was originally a quartet that featured lead vocalist and guitarist Tom Johnston, guitarist and second vocalist Patrick Simmons, bass ...

was hired in his place. The next album, '' Shades'', reached No. 4 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine jazz album chart, while the single "And You Know That" won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Lawson left and was replaced by Will Kennedy in 1987. Their next three albums, ''

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'', ''

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

'', and ''

The Spin ''The Spin'' is an album by the American jazz band Yellowjackets, released in 1989. The album title refers to the Earth's rotation. The band supported the album with a North American tour. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best ...

'' all received Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. With Russo leaving the band in 1990,

Bob Mintzer Robert Alan Mintzer (born January 27, 1953) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Early life Mintzer was born and raised in a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York, on January 27, 1953. He attended the Inte ...

replaced him for the album ''

Greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

'', which reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Contemporary Jazz Album chart. Mintzer has remained a band member. The Yellowjackets celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2011 with the album ''

Timeline A timeline is a list of events displayed in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representing t ...

'' for

Mack Avenue Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

. When Haslip took an extended hiatus, he was replaced by Felix Pastorius (son of bassist

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

.) The band released ''A Rise in the Road'' with Pastorius. On some of the songs, Pastorius played the

fretless bass guitar A fretless bass is an electric bass guitar whose neck lacks frets and thus is smooth like traditional string instruments, and like the neck of an acoustic double bass. While the fretless bass is played in all styles of music, it is most common in ...

made famous by his father. In addition to their studio albums, the Yellowjackets contributed two tracks to the soundtrack of the film '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' in 1986..

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards * R&B Instrumental Performance: "And You Know That" (1987) * Jazz Fusion Performance: ''Politics'' (1989) Grammy nominations * Jazz Fusion Performance: ''Mirage a Trois'' (1984), ''Four Corners'' (1987) * Contemporary Jazz Performance: ''Greenhouse'' (1992), ''Like a River'' (1994), ''Run for Your Life'' (1995), ''Dreamland'' (1996), ''Club Nocturne'' (1999) * Contemporary Jazz Album: ''Mint Jam'' (2003), ''Time Squared'' (2004), ''Lifecycle'' (2009) * Jazz Instrumental Performance: ''The Spin'' (1990) *

Instrumental Composition An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer t ...

: "Claire's Closet", Russell Ferrante (2009), "Civil War", Bob Mintzer (2014) *

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

: ''Jackets XL'' with the

WDR Big Band WDR Big Band is the jazz big band of German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne, Germany. History Origins After World War II, the ''Kölner Rundfunk-Tanzorchester'' (''Cologne Radio Dance Orchestra'') was active from ...

(2022)

Members

Current members

*Russell Ferrante – keyboards, synthesizers (1977–present) *William Kennedy – drums, percussion (1987–1999, 2010–present) *

– saxophones,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

, EWI (1991–present) *Dane Alderson – bass (2015–present)

Former members

– bass (1977–2012) *

– drums (1977–1987; died 2013) *

– guitar (1977–1983) * Mike Miller – guitar (1983) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...

– guitar (1985) *Marc Russo – saxophones (1985–1989) *

Peter Erskine Peter Clark Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the d ...

– drums (1999–2000) *

Terri Lyne Carrington Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets (band), ...

– drums (2000) *Marcus Baylor – drums (2000–2010) *Felix Pastorius – bass (2012–2015)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1100 height:380 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:80 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Saxophone value:tan2 legend:Saxophone id:Keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboard id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio releases id:Lines2 value:yellow legend:Live album recordings (opt. also video) Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1981 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1981 LineData = at:01/01/1981 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1985 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1986 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1987 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1989 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1991 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1992 color:yellow layer:back at:01/01/1993 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1994 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1995 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1997 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1998 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2001 color:yellow layer:back at:01/01/2003 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2004 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2005 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2006 color:yellow layer:back at:01/01/2008 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2011 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2013 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2016 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2018 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2020 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2022 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2023 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:ford text:"Robben Ford" bar:miller text:"Mike Miller" bar:landau text:"Michael Landau" bar:russo text:"Marc Russo" bar:mintzer text:"Bob Mintzer" bar:ferrante text:"Russell Ferrante" bar:haslip text:"Jimmy Haslip" bar:pastorius text:"Felix Pastorius" bar:alderson text:"Dane Alderson" bar:lawson text:"Ricky Lawson" bar:kennedy text:"William Kennedy" bar:erskine text:"Peter Erskine" bar:carrington text:"Terri Lyne Carrington" bar:baylor text:"Marcus Baylor" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:miller from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1984:Guitar bar:landau from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986:Guitar bar:ferrante from:01/01/1981 till:end color:Keyboard bar:haslip from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/2012 color:Bass bar:pastorius from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2015 color:Bass bar:alderson from:01/01/2015 till:end color:Bass bar:lawson from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1987 color:Drums bar:kennedy from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1999 color:Drums bar:kennedy from:01/01/2010 till:end color:Drums bar:erskine from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 color:Drums bar:carrington from:01/01/2000 till:01/07/2000 color:Drums bar:baylor from:01/07/2000 till:01/01/2010 color:Drums bar:ford from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1984 color:Guitar bar:russo from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1990 color:Saxophone bar:mintzer from:01/01/1991 till:end color:Saxophone

Discography

*1981: ''

Yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, ...

'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

) *1983: ''

'' (Warner Bros.) *1985: ''

Samurai Samba ''Samurai Samba'' is the third album of the American jazz group Yellowjackets, released in 1985. The album reached a peak position of number 179 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 10 on ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart. Track listing Pers ...

'' (Warner Bros.) *1986: '' Shades'' ( GRP) *1987: ''

'' (MCA) *1988: ''

'' ( MCA) *1989: ''

'' (MCA) *1991: ''

'' (MCA) *1992: '' Live Wires'' (GRP) *1993: ''

Like a River ''Like a River'' (1993) is the ninth studio album (10th overall) from the jazz group Yellowjackets, and their fifth studio album (sixth overall) for GRP Records. The album was nominated for "Best Contemporary Jazz Recording" Grammy Award.The a ...

'' (GRP) *1994: '' Run for Your Life'' (GRP) *1995: '' Dreamland'' (Warner Bros.) *1995:

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

's '' Bang!Zoom'' (Blue Note) *1997: '' Blue Hats'' (Warner Bros.) *1998: '' Club Nocturne'' (Warner Bros.) *2001: '' Mint Jam'' ( Heads Up) *2003: '' Time Squared'' (Heads Up) *2003: '' Peace Round: A Christmas Celebration'' (Heads Up) *2005: '' Altered State'' (Heads Up) *2006: ''Twenty-Five'' (Heads Up) *2008: ''

Lifecycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from conception to reproduction *Life-cycle hypothesis, in economics *Erikson's stages of psy ...

'' (Heads Up) *2011: ''

'' (

) *2013: ''A Rise in the Road'' (Mack Avenue) *2016: ''Cohearence'' (Mack Avenue) *2018: ''Raising Our Voice'' (Mack Avenue) *2020: ''Jackets XL'' (Mack Avenue) *2022: ''Parallel Motion'' (Mack Avenue) *2025: ''Fasten Up'' (Mack Avenue)

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Jazz ensembles from California American jazz fusion ensembles Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups from Los Angeles Smooth jazz ensembles Grammy Award winners GRP Records artists MCA Records artists Warner Records artists Articles which contain graphical timelines Mack Avenue Records artists