Eddie Gomez Quintet
@ the PizzaExpress Jazz Club
26 February 2013
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Eddie Gomez biography
Legendary bassist Eddie Gomez has been on the cutting
edge of music for over four decades. The two-time Latin Grammy award-winner’s
impressive resumé includes performances with jazz giants
such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan
and Benny Goodman. Gomez’z unique sound and style can be heard
on hundreds of recordings spanning the worlds of jazz, classical,
Latin jazz, rhythm & blues, popular and contemporary music.
Born in 1944 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Gomez moved
to New York City with his family at an early age. His love of music
led him to the double bass as a precocious 11-year old student in
the public school system. Two years later he was accepted to the
High School of Music and Art and soon began private studies with
the great double bass teacher Fred Zimmerman. During these years,
he performed with many professional dance bands and was a member
of the Newport Youth Band led by Marshall Brown. By 18, he had performed
with such jazz luminaries as Buck Clayton, Marian McPartland and
Paul Bley.
Gomez continued his studies at the Juilliard School
of Music, where his contemporaries included Chick Corea, Hubert
Laws, James Levine, Itzak Perlman, Paula Robinson and Gary Karr.
By the end of his third year of school, he dreamed of a career as
a performing jazz musician. Later that summer he joined with Gary
McFarland and soon after the Gerry Mulligan Quintet.
In the spring of 1966, both Mulligan’s group
(with Gomez on bass) and the Bill Evans Trio performed for a week
at the famed Village Vanguard. That week at the Vanguard changed
Gomez’s life forever. When Bill Evans heard the young phenomenon,
he practically hired him on the spot. Evans called a few weeks later
and Gomez’s dream had been realised. At age 21, he was the
bassist with the Bill Evans Trio - and rose quickly to fame. TIME
magazine declared in its review of the trio’s first recording,
“Eddie Gomez has the world on his strings.”
Joining the Bill Evans Trio was indeed a turning
point in Gomez’s career. He had arrived in a big way and the
jazz community took notice. For 11 years, Gomez played an integral
role in the Bill Evans Trio’s sound and evolution. This period
of vast artistic growth with Bill Evans included performances throughout
the United States, Europe, South America and Asia, as well as dozens
of recordings – two of which won Grammyawards. During this
time, Gomez also realised another dream performing on many occasions
with the great Miles Davis, in the Davis quintet that also featured
Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams.
In 1977, Gomez left the Evans Trio to explore new
musical territory. For the
next decade, he performed in many diverse musical contexts, working
with
Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, McCoy Tyner, Hank
Jones, Nancy Wilson, Tania Maria, Ray Barreto, the All Star groups
‘Steps Ahead’
and ‘New Directions’ and many others, as well as on
Grammy winning recordings with Chick Corea.
In the classical music world, Gomez has been a
guest artist with
The Kronos Quartet, Tashi Ensemble, Japanese marimbist Mika Yoshida
and clarinettist Richard Stoltzman. His recordings with Stoltzman
have included “Begin Sweet World” and most recently
“The Goldberg Variations” and other pieces by Johann
Sebastian Bach. At Carnegie Recital Hall, Gomez premiered a musical
piece written specifically for him by William Thomas McKinley.
In popular music, Gomez has performed and recorded
with artists such as Bobby Darin, Tim Hardin, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel,
Mark Knoffler, Michael Franks, Judy Collins and Jennifer Holliday.
He has also been a member of ‘The Gadd Gang,’ Steve
Gadd’s All Star R&B/jazz band.
Today, Eddie tours and records with his own group,
which he formed in 1992 with pianist Stefan Karlson and legendary
drummer Jimmy Cobb. The group’s recordings include “Live
in Japan,” “Dedication” and “Uptown Music.”
He is composing for
his own projects as well as for film and television most notably
for the prize-winning William Steig animation, ‘The Amazing
Bone.’ Eddie Gomez continues to enjoy an active, international
career as a performer, recording artist, composer, educator and
featured guest artist on many high profile projects.
A sought-after educator, Gomez is Artistic Director
at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where he has been professor
and artist-in-residence since 2005. He has been artist-in-residence
and associate professor of jazz double bass at the Oberlin Conservatory
of Music and recently was resident artist at Stanford University,
North Texas State University, Georgia State University, Jacksonville
University, and the prestigious Berklee College of Music. He gives
master classes at many of the major universities and conservatories
throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and South America.
Eddie Gomez continues to enjoy an active, international
career as a performer, recording artist, composer, educator and
featured guest artist on many high profile projects.
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