Lew Soloff, R.I.P.

[jwaggs]

http://spectator.org/blog/61989/lew-soloff-rip

[Ron Thorne]

What a drag!

Here is a poignant photo from my friend Danny Gottlieb's Facebook page today, and his comment. A video from 1989 which includes Danny follows.

Walked into a bookstore in upstate NY and found this. We miss and love you Lew!- Danny Gottlieb





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYaUF6BgdEs

[Ron Thorne]

Lew Soloff dies at 71; trumpet player for Blood, Sweat and Tears




Jazz trumpeter Lew Soloff, an early member
of Blood, Sweat and Tears, died in New York
City. He was 71. (John Abbott)

By Steve Chawkins

March 8, 2015

Lew Soloff, a jazz trumpet player who performed with Blood, Sweat and Tears, dies at 71

Lew Soloff, a trumpet player who was an early member of Blood, Sweat and Tears and whose jazz career included performances with his own ensembles and with Gil Evans, Ornette Coleman, Chuck Mangione, Maynard Ferguson and other giants of the genre, has died. He was 71.

Soloff suffered an apparent heart attack as he walked down a New York City street Saturday night with his daughter Laura Solomon, her husband, and their children. He died early Sunday, Solomon said.

Soloff joined Blood, Sweat and Tears in 1968, about a year after the mega-group formed. He performed on their hit "Spinning Wheel" shortly after signing on with them. He played trumpet and flugelhorn on numerous Blood, Sweat and Tears recordings and was featured on the group's eponymous album that in 1970 won a best-album Grammy.

Soloff traveled the world with Blood, Sweat and Tears until he parted with the jazz/rock band in 1973, grateful for the exposure he had gained but yearning for the kind of free-form musical invention that he felt more accurately defined him.

I played trumpet in school and found that Blood, Sweat and Tears, along with bands like Chicago, were making strong statements in Rock, Jazz Rock, with the trumpet. Thank you Mr Soloff for your great work! I must have played 'Spinning Wheel' a thousand times when I was 11!!!!

"It gave me the life experience of once having been a sort of rock star — not individually but certainly as a member of the band," he told the Jerusalem Post in 2002. "At one point, it was the second biggest band in the world. I'm thankful for that, but there was never enough improvisational freedom in the band for me to consider that as one of my jazz gigs."

Lewis Michael Soloff was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Feb. 20, 1944, and grew up in Lakewood, N.J. He studied piano before taking up the trumpet when he was 10. He once recalled listening to a recording of Louis Armstrong's "I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music," awestruck at a high scale played "with such quiet finesse and beauty."

"I wanted to play like that," Soloff said.

Soloff played with bands at Catskills resorts during summer vacations. In 1961, he entered the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and later did graduate work at the Juilliard School in New York City. By the mid-1960s, he was playing with Afro-Cuban bandleader Machito, whose fiery rhythms inspired Soloff's own Afro-Cuban ensemble decades later.

Soloff played in the studio and on stage with Tony Bennett, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithfull, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Barbra Streisand.

He helped found the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, played Bach with the Manhattan Brass, appeared with Clark Terry's big band, performed on numerous movie scores, and accompanied such renowned jazz artists as George Benson, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Mann, Carmen McRae and Stanley Turrentine.

He described jazz pianist Gil Evans as "my musical godfather," and performed with his group from 1966 until Evans' death in 1988.

Critics noted Soloff's virtuosity in a wide variety of forms. In a 2002 cabaret review, the New York Times said Soloff's "big, meaty sound owes much to Louis Armstrong."

His survivors include daughters Laura Solomon and Lena Soloff, as well as his grandchildren.

steve.chawkins@latimes.com

[hornplayer]

really rotten news.

[Ron Thorne]

03/08/15
Trumpeter Lew Soloff Dies at 71
Prolific player first found fame with Blood, Sweat & Tears

By Jeff Tamarkin

Lew Soloff, a fixture on the New York jazz scene for a half-century, and best known for his association with Blood, Sweat and Tears, died this morning, March 8, in New York City. His daughter, Laura Solomon, confirming Soloff’s death, stated on her Facebook page that he suffered a massive heart attack while returning home after eating dinner with his family. Soloff was 71.



Lew Soloff / Dragan Tasic


Blood, Sweat & Tears circa 1972. Lew Soloff is third from left


Lew Soloff


Soloff was best known for his five-year stint with jazz-rock pioneers Blood, Sweat and Tears, which he joined in 1968. He was present on the group’s Grammy-winning self-titled second album, performing at Woodstock with the group and contributing prominently to the hit “Spinning Wheel.” He remained with BS&T until 1973, recording five albums in all with the band. He also contributed regularly to recordings by Gil Evans and Carla Bley and served as a sideman for many other artists, as well as recording several albums as a leader.

Born Lewis Soloff in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Feb. 20, 1944, Soloff was raised in Lakewood, N.J., where he first studied piano. He switched to trumpet at age10 and developed an interest in jazz. He attended Juilliard Preparatory, then the Eastman School of Music beginning in 1961, followed by a year in graduate school at Juilliard.

Soloff’s first professional association was with the Latin bandleader Machito, and in 1966 he joined Maynard Ferguson’s outfit. Soloff also played during this time in a big band co-led by Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham, as well as with pianist/arranger Gil Evans, with whom Soloff would continue to collaborate until Evans’ death in 1988. Soloff also spent time during the late ’60s working with Tito Puente, Clark Terry, Eddie Palmieri and others, but it was his role as a core member of Blood, Sweat and Tears during that band’s commercial peak that brought him his greatest and most lasting recognition.

During the 1980s, Soloff was a member of the group Members Only and, beginning in 1983, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, with which he recorded more than 20 albums (most for the Japanese market, where the group was extremely popular). He recorded nine albums as a leader, beginning with Hanalei Bay in 1986; the last was 2004’s Air on a G String.

Soloff’s contributions to the discography of Carla Bley occurred between 1988 and 2008. Other artists with whom Soloff record or played, according to a bio on his website, were Roy Ayers, Bob Belden, George Benson, Benny Carter, Stanley Clarke, Paquito D’Rivera, Miles Davis/Quincy Jones, Mercer Ellington, Grant Green, Lionel Hampton, Bob James, Herbie Mann, Tania Maria, Carmen McRae, Laura Nyro, Jaco Pastorius, Mongo Santamaria, Little Jimmy Scott, Wayne Shorter and Stanley Turrentine. The site also states that Soloff accompanied many well-known vocalists, including Tony Bennett, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithfull, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Barbra Streisand, and also appeared on projects by Phillip Glass, Kip Hanrahan, John Mayall and Dr. John. Soloff also contributed music to numerous film soundtracks.

As an educator, he was on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music for nearly 20 years and served an adjunct faculty member at Julliard and New School.

[Jazzooo]

Just my favorite living trumpet player till now. RIP.

[bluenoter]

From an announcement on a landing page, Welcome to LewSoloff.com:

A private funeral service is planned for Monday, March 9, 2015. . . .

A public celebration and memorial will be organized and more information will be provided shortly.

Please send thoughts and condolences to:

The Family of Lew Soloff
c/o Bates Meyer, Inc.
PO Box 2821
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315 USA

Contact:
Nancy Meyer
Bates Meyer, Inc. . . .

Unfortunately, Juilliard is misspelled in the lewsoloff.com Biography (and in one of the name's occurrences in the JazzTimes obit). So I called Nancy Meyer, and she said she'd get the Bio page corrected right away. (We'll see. But she agreed that the correction is important, especially now. Edit: May 30, and it hasn't been corrected. Well, I tried.)

I'm not a big BS&T fan and I'm not aware of having heard Lew Soloff's music otherwise, but clearly he was highly regarded as a musician and a human being. R.I.P.

[Mike Schwartz]

I met Soloff when he was on BS&T at the house of one of my band teachers when I was in high school [and they were roommates].

Have been a fan ever since.......RIP

LOVED him on the Gil Evans band which did Monday nights for years at the old Sweet Basil, which was like a party every time I saw them in action.
Evans was Lou's mentor and his favorite; they collaborated for years.


Soloff takes a nice turn at around 1:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I6F5jxWiYU

[Chazro]

Too sad. I own a lot of music featuring Lew Soloff. I especially enjoy his work on Carla Bleys' big band release; 'Fleur Carnivale'. I follow many artists and mags on FB, the outpouring of love and respect from so many artists has been an eye-opener! RIP.

[Ron Thorne]

From my friend, Danny Gottlieb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4e0i0vxMIE

[steve(thelil)]

I was lucky enough to see him live on many occasions over the years. Not to be a jazz snob, but it always bothered me a little to see him identified as a BS&T member. I like BS&T, but that is such a small part of Lew's long and distinguished career.

RIP

[Ron Thorne]

I was lucky enough to see him live on many occasions over the years. Not to be a jazz snob, but it always bothered me a little to see him identified as a BS&T member. I like BS&T, but that is such a small part of Lew's long and distinguished career.

RIP

I hear what you're saying, (thelil), and agree to a large extent. Having said that, BS&T, especially Spinning Wheel, really launched his career, so it's highly memorable and identifiable. It's also a common denominator for many who found their way to jazz via, Chicago, BS&T, et al.

[Chazro]

I was lucky enough to see him live on many occasions over the years. Not to be a jazz snob, but it always bothered me a little to see him identified as a BS&T member. I like BS&T, but that is such a small part of Lew's long and distinguished career.

RIP

I hear what you're saying, (thelil), and agree to a large extent. Having said that, BS&T, especially Spinning Wheel, really launched his career, so it's highly memorable and identifiable. It's also a common denominator for many who found their way to jazz via, Chicago, BS&T, et al.

This made me think about how different paths can start at the same place (sort of) and yet end up in totally different places. Compare Lou Soloffs' career to his BS&T bandmate; Randy Brecker. It's interesting that Randy's time with them is usually barely a footnote. Even though, by anyone's parameters, Lou Soloff had a very distinguished, successful career, there'll always be a mention of BS&T (as if THAT was the highlight of his career, which it clearly wasn't. It would be akin to saying the highlight of Dave Liebman's career was his time with Ten Wheel Drive). It's all relative I guess.

[bluenoter]

Please see Free: a Lew Soloff memorial concert — NYC | June 8, 2015 for more information on the event (and instructions for those who would like to make a donation in Lew Soloff's memory).

[steve(thelil)]

I question whether Lou Soloff's fame was mostly due to BS&T, even though I agree that it was by far the most popular group he was involved in AND he was in it during their peak. Because BS&T was marketed mostly as a rock band and played on rock radio stations, I don't remember EVER knowing (or admittedly being interested -THEN - in) who the horn players were.

I had been a huge Blues Project fan and I remember anxiously reading articles about BS&T when it formed, since Al Kooper and Steve Katz from the Blues Project were original members. Yet I don't recall much being written about the brass members.

In college and thereafter I saw Soloff play with upstate local jazz (and DB poll winner on baritone) hero Nick Brignola on several occasions, and I don't remember anyone making a big deal about his past membership in BS&T. Maybe that's because they were playing jazz clubs and jazz snobbery was involved. But again, I would read the local arts rags and just don't remember the BS&T thing being mentioned, or a least, played up.