Yellowjackets is an American

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

band founded in 1977 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

History

In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ricky Lawson. They decided to continue as a group and were signed to Warner Bros. Records by producer Tommy LiPuma, 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'', was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Fusion Performance. Ford only played on half this album, and after he departed the group, saxophonist Marc Russo was hired in his place. The next album, ''

Shades Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can so ...

'', 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 The 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. The Four Corners area ...

'', ''

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

'', and '' The Spin'' 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 Inter ...

replaced him for the album ''

Greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

'', 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 display of a list of events 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 represen ...

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

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

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

fretless bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and sc ...

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 is a recording normally 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 to instrum ...

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

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

: ''Jackets XL'' with the (2022)

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, e ...

'' ( Warner Bros.) *1983: '' Mirage a Trois'' (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 Person ...

'' (Warner Bros.) *1986: ''

'' ( GRP) *1987: ''

'' (GRP) *1988: ''

'' (

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

) *1989: '' The Spin'' (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 alb ...

'' (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 folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also ra ...

's '' Bang!Zoom'' (Blue Note) *1997: ''

Blue Hats ''Blue Hats'' is an album by the American jazz group Yellowjackets, released in 1997. The album reached a peak position of number nine on '' Billboard'' Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. Track listing Personnel * Russell Ferrante – acous ...

'' (Warner Bros.) *1998: ''

Club Nocturne ''Club Nocturne'' (1998) is the 13th studio album (14th overall) from the jazz group Yellowjackets, and their sixth and final release for the Warner Bros. label. The album was nominated for "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" Grammy Award. The album, ...

'' (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'' (Heads Up) *2011: ''

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

Members

Present lineup

* Russell Ferrante – keyboards, synthesizers (1977–present) *

– saxophones,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common 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 notes an octave ...

, EWI (1991–present) *William Kennedy – drums, percussion (1987–1999, 2010–present) *Dane Alderson – bass (2015–present)

Former members

* Robben Ford – guitar (1977–1983) * Jimmy Haslip – bass (1977–2012) * Mike Miller - guitar (1983) * Ricky Lawson – drums (1977–1987; died 2013) * Michael Landau - guitar (1985) * Marc Russo – saxophones (1985–1989) * Peter Erskine – drums (1999-2000) * Terri Lyne Carrington – drums (2000) *Marcus Baylor – drums (2000–2010) *Felix Pastorius – bass (2012–2015)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1100 height:380 PlotArea = left:84 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:Saxophone value:gray(0.75) legend:Saxophone id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboard id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums 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 BarData = bar:ford text:"Robben Ford" 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: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:01/01/2001 color:Drums bar:baylor from:01/01/2000 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 ImageSize = width:800 height:40 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:0 top:0 right:6 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1981 till:01/12/2013 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors= id:Lines value:black legend:Studio releases id:Lines2 value:yellow legend:Live album recordings (opt. also video) Legend = orientation:horizontal position:top

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control American jazz ensembles from California Jazz fusion ensembles Jazz musicians from California 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