Charles Gayle

Bio:

------------------------------------------------------------------------ ..

This is a tribute space for this incredible musician and human being.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Charles Gayle (born February 28, 1939) is a free jazz saxophonist, pianist, bass clarinetist, and percussionist. He lives in New York.

Some of Gayle's history is unclear. He was apparently homeless for approximately twenty years, playing saxophone on street corners and subway platforms around New York City. In 1988, he gained fame through a trio of albums recorded by a Swedish label, Silkheart Records. Since then he has become a major figure in free jazz, recording for labels including Black Saint, Knitting Factory Records, FMP[1], and Clean Feed. He has also taught music at Bennington College.

Gayle's music is spiritual, and heavily inspired by the Old and New Testaments. He has explicitly dedicated several albums to God. His childhood was influenced by religion, and his musical roots trace to black gospel music. After his church experiences, Gayle credits among his influences Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Thelonious Monk, and Art Tatum. He has performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor, William Parker, and Rashied Ali.

Gayle's most celebrated work to date remains the album Touchin' on Trane (FMP) with Parker and Ali. Though he established his reputation primarily as a tenor saxophonist, he has increasingly turned to other instruments, notably the piano (which was, in fact, his original instrument) and alto saxophone. More controversially, he has sometimes included lengthy spoken-word addresses to the audience in his concerts touching on his political and religious beliefs; for a period he was even largely performing as a mime, "Streets the Clown".

In 2001, Gayle recorded an album titled Jazz Solo Piano. This disc consisted mostly of straightforward jazz standards, and is a response to critics who charge that free jazz musicians cannot play bebop. In 2006, Gayle followed up with a second album of solo piano, this time featuring original material, titled Time Zones. He has also recently released several albums on Clean Feed and Ayler Records that include traditional jazz standards.

In 2006, poet Steve Dalachinsky published a book of poems written while watching Gayle play entitled The Final Nite & Other Poems: Complete Notes from a Charles Gayle Notebook 1987-2006.



Releases:

Repent (CD, Album) Knitting Factory Works 1992
Consecration (CD, Album) Black Saint 1993
Touchin' On Trane (CD, Album) FMP 1993
Testaments (CD, Album) Knitting Factory Works 1995
Illuminators (CD, Album) Audible Hiss 1996
Solo In Japan (CD, Album) P.S.F. Records 1997
Ancient Of Days (CD, Album) Knitting Factory Works 1999
Shout! (CD, Album) Clean Feed 2004
No Bills (CD) Long Arms Records 2005
Touchin' On Trane (CD, Album, RE) Jazzwerkstatt, Jazzwerkstatt 2007
Always Born (CD, Album) Silkheart 1988
Homeless (LP) Silkheart Records 1989
Homeless (CD) Silkheart Records 1989
More Live At The Knitting Factory February, 1993 (2xCD, Album)
Knitting Factory Works 1993
Live At Disobey (CD, Album, Ltd) Blast First 1994
Translations (CD, Album) Silkheart 1994
Live In London 1994 (CD, Album, Dig)
Blast First 1995
Always A Pleasure (CD, Album) FMP 1996
Everything (3 versions) 2.13.61 Records ... 1996
Everything (2xCD) 2.13.61 Records 1996
Everything (2xCD) Thirsty Ear 1996
Everything (2xCass) 2.13.61 Records 1996
Berlin Movement From Future Years (CD, Album) FMP 1997
Delivered (CD) 2.13.61 Records 1997
Daily Bread (CD, Album) Black Saint 1998
Abiding Variations (CD, Album) FMP 1999
Precious Soul (CD, Album) FMP 2001
Irving Stone Memorial Concert (2xCD) Memories
Tzadik 2004
Raining Fire (CD, Album) Silkheart 2005
Live At Glenn Miller Café (CD) Ayler Records 2006
Consider The Lilies... (CD, Album) Clean Feed 2006
Blue Shadows (CD, Album) Silkheart 2008
Forgiveness (CD, Album) Not Two Records 2008
Live At Crescendo (2xCD, Album) Ayler Records 2008 Tracks

Appear On:
Irving Stone Memorial Concert (2xCD) Memories Tzadik 2004











..

Generate your own contact table!

Member Since:

August 07, 2009

Record Label:

Silkhead, FMP, Knitting Factory