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Jim Hall at All About Jazz
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Jim Hall
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Biography
Born: December 4, 1930
Jim Hall , born in Buffalo, and educated at the
Cleveland Institute of Music, moved to Los Angeles where
he began to attract national, and then international,
attention in the late 1950s. By 1960 Jim had arrived in
New York to work with Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer,
among others. His live and recorded collaborations with
Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, and Ron Carter, are legendary.
Not only is Jim Hall one of the jazz world's favorite
guitarists, but he has also earned critical acclaim for his
skills as a composer and arranger. The first formal
recognition came in 1997, when Jim won the New York
Jazz Critics Circle Award for Best Jazz
Composer/Arranger. His pieces for string, brass, and
vocal ensembles can be heard on his “Textures” and “By
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Jim Hall at All About Jazz
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"The Monument (Soldiers And
Sailors)"
Tobias Gebb & Trio West
An Upper West Side Story
Loft Jazz New York 1976 (3
CDs)
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Arrangement” recordings. His original composition,
“Quartet Plus Four,” a piece for jazz quartet augmented
by the Zapolski string quartet, was debuted in Denmark
during the concert and ceremony where he was awarded
the coveted Jazzpar Prize, and later released on CD.
His most recent large-scale composition was a concerto
for guitar and orchestra, commissioned by Towson
University in Maryland for The First World Guitar
Congress�, which was debuted in June 2004 with the
Baltimore Symphony. The title of the work, �Peace
Movement,� is indicative of Jim�s desire to contribute
to world peace through his music. He views music as a
way of bonding people together and crossing barriers, be
they barriers of geography, ideology, religion, or other
discriminations. In accepting the NEA Jazz Masters
Fellowship award in January 2004, he said, �The women
and men who have received this award in the past have
spread peace and love throughout the world, something
that governments might emulate. I am pleased to be one
of the peacemakers.�
In addition to the recent focus on orchestral and choral
composition, Jim remains active as a player, working and
recording with a variety of ensembles all around the
world. In addition to working with his trio, Jim likes to
spice up the mix with various guests. From time to time
you might hear Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, the New York
Voices, Kenny Barron, Pat Metheny, Slide Hampton, and
others, working for a night or two with Jim's groups. In
fact, several of these guests can be heard on a live
recording titled “Panorama.� On occasion, these alliances
lead to more intensive collaborative projects such as the
�Jim Hall & Basses� recording featuring Scott Colley ,
Charlie Haden , Dave Holland, George Mraz , and
Christian McBride , and the “duets” project with Pat
Metheny.
Jim�s latest project, �Magic Meeting,� a CD featuring
the Jim Hall Trio with Scott Colley and Lewis Nash, was
recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York City at
the end of April 2004. Jim�s new website
(www.jimhallmusic.com) enables him to share with his
audience a personal view of his creative process, in
addition to the finished product. Via the web, audiences
can participate, not just by purchasing the new CD, but
by �being there,� behind the scenes, so to speak,
witnessing Jim prepare for a project, meeting the players,
hearing the outtakes, and more.
Some years ago, Guitar Player magazine quoted Jim as
saying “I do feel good about my playing. The instrument
keeps me humble. Sometimes I pick it up and it seems
to say `No, you can't play today.' I keep at it anyway
though.” Jim and his wife, Jane, who is both a
psychoanalyst and a songwriter, live in New York City�s
Greenwich Village with their dog, Django. This bio was
excerpted from �Sketches from PROS Folios: Jim Hall�
by Devra Hall, and permission is granted for its use in
program books and promotional materials.
Press Quotes
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Mr. Hall has a technique equivalent to that of
any classical guitar soloist and an electronics kit
that could out-tech any rock 'n' roller, but his
music is strictly jazz. -- Will Friedwald, The New
York Sun
...Hall and his colleagues - bassist Scott Colley
and drummer Lewis Nash - have developed a
level of rapport second to none...The superb
interplay made it hard to believe this music was
being created on the spot, without the benefit
of a written score... the three openly exchanged
ideas in one poetic dialogue after another... --
Chuck Obuchowski, The Hartford Courant
”His intensely intimate music gets under your
skin rather than grabbing you by the
lapels....Mr. Hall has a sound as recognizable as
the voice of a friend. His floating, fine-grained
tone is smooth and edgeless, his wide-spaced
harmonies subtly oblique.” -- Terry Teachout,
Wall Street Journal
”Jim Hall is the reigning master of the jazz
guitar. This poetic player says more with fewer
notes than any living improviser.” -- The New
Yorker
”A master of understatement, Hall is one of
jazz's most respected improvisers, an artist who
wields his guitar like a paintbrush, shaping and
shading each note to achieve just the right hue
and texture. Modest and soft-spoken, he has
inspired two generations of jazz musicians with
his vast harmonic knowledge and restless
musical curiosity.” -- Andrew Gilbert, San Jose
Mercury News
”His work speaks as much to the human
condiction as any artist past or present, and if
one looks and listens attentively, there are
great rewards to be found there.” -- Victor
Magnani, All About Jazz
”Mr. Hall's dry-toned guitar playing with its
discrete, deliberate notes and sliding chords
works like a bluesy telegraph signal.” -- Ben
Ratliff, The New York Times
“Since 1955, Hall, jazz' most lyrical and
harmonically fertile guitarist, has jousted with
top jazz stars like Ella Fitzgerald and Sonny
Rollins. And his approach has shaped a younger
generation of guitar heroes, from Metheny to
Bill Frisell.” -- Gene Santoro, New York Daily
News
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Jim Hall at All About Jazz
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All About Jazz Reader Q&A: Jim Hall
Jim Hall: The Elegant Guitarist
Jim Hall in Duet with Enrico Pieranunzi & Geoff Keezer:
Duologues and Free Association
Free Association; Duologues; Indian Winter
Total Articles: 23
News
[
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]
Now Streaming Online: "Hemispheres" by Jim Hall and
Guitar Icon Jim Hall Interviewed at AAJ
Legendary Jim Hall's Gig Schedule for March and May
August Brown Jim Hall & Bill Frisell
Artistshare's Fall Schedule Includes Jim Hall/Bill Frisell
Getting Involved with Jim Hall and Bill Frisell
Videos
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Jim Hall at All About Jazz
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Jim Hall & Bill Frisell
Jim Hall and Michel Petrucciani
Jim Hall & Attila Zoller
(3:50)
Jim Hall
(10:16)
Power of Three
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Jim Hall at All About Jazz
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Last Updated: June 9, 2009
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