Charles Earland.html



Charles Earland (24 May 1941–11 December 1999) was an American jazz composer, organist, and saxophonist in the soul jazz idiom.

History

Earland was born in Philadelphia, and learned to play the saxophone in high school. He played tenor with Jimmy McGriff at the age of seventeen, and in 1960 started his first group. He started playing the organ after playing with Pat Martino, and joined Lou Donaldson's band from 1968 to 1969.

The group that he led from 1970, including Grover Washington, was successful, and he eventually started playing soprano saxophone and synthesizer. His hard, simmering grooves earned him the nickname "The Mighty Burner".

In 1978 Earland hit the disco/club scene with a track recorded on Mercury Records called "Let the Music Play" written by Randy Muller from Brass Construction fame. The record was in the charts for 5 weeks and reached number 46 in the UK BBC Top 75 singles. With Earland's playing on synthesizer, the track also has an uncredited female vocalist

From 1988 until his death Earland traveled extensively. One of the many highlights of his latter years was a stellar performance at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1994. Among the musicians that performed with him at the Berlin Jazz Festival included Alabama born, Chicago resident Zimbabu Hamilton http://www.zimprov.com on the Drums.

Earland continued to perform throughout the US and abroad until his death. He died in Kansas City at the age of fifty-eight.

Recordings

Sources and external links

• Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. Jazz: The Rough Guide. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-528-3
• Charles Earland — biographical sketch by Richard S. Ginell, for Allmusic.
• Obituary of Charles Earland by Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Sun-Times, Dec. 16, 1999