"Bobby Lee Bradford (born July 19, 1934) is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. He is noted for his work with Ornette Coleman. In October 2009, Bradford became the second recipient of the Festival of New Trumpet Music's Award of Recognition.

Bobby Lee Bradford's life begins in Mississippi, he and his family then moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1946. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1953 where he reunited with Ornette Coleman, whom he had previously known in Texas. Bradford subsequently joined Coleman's ensemble, but was drafted into the U.S. Air Force and replaced by Don Cherry.

After playing in military bands from late 1954 to late 1958, he rejoined Coleman's quartet from 1961 to 1963, which infrequently performed in public, but was indeed recorded under Coleman's Atlantic contract. Quite unfortunately, these tapes were among those many destroyed in the Great Atlantic Vault Fire. Freddie Hubbard acted as Bradford's replacement upon his departure to return to the West Coast and pursue further studies. Bradford soon began a long-running and relatively well-documented association with the clarinetist John Carter, a pairing that brought both increased exposure at international festivals (though the records remain scantily available, when one excludes web rips and bootlegs). Following Carter's death in 1991, Bradford fronted his own ensemble known as The Mo'tet, with which he has continued to perform since. He is the father of drummer Dennis Bradford. He is also the father of jazz vocalist Carmen Bradford.

He holds a B.M. degree from Huston-Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University) in Austin, Texas.

In addition to Coleman, Bradford has performed with Eric Dolphy, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Ingebrigt HŒker-Flaten, Bob Stewart, Charlie Haden, George Lewis (trmbn.), James Newton, Frode Gjerstad, Vinny Golia, Paal Nilssen-Love, and David Murray, who was previously a student of his in the 1970s.

He is an instructor at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California, and Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he teaches The History of Jazz, known to be one of the most popular classes available."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bradford)
7/15/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Mark Dresser is a Grammy nominated, internationally renowned bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator. At the core of his music is an artistic obsession and commitment to expanding the sonic, musical, and expressive possibilities of the contrabass. He has recorded over one hundred thirty CDs including three solo CDs and a DVD. From 1985 to 1994, he was a member of Anthony Braxton's Quartet, which recorded nine CDs and was the subject of Graham Locke's book Forces in Motion (Da Capo). He has also performed and recorded music of Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Dave Douglas, Osvaldo Golijov, Gerry Hemingway, Bob Ostertag, Joe Lovano, Roger Reynolds, Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn. Dresser most recent and internationally acclaimed new music for jazz quintet, Nourishments (2013) his latest CD (Clean Feed) marks his re-immersion as a bandleader. Since 2007 he has been deeply involved in telematic music performance and education. He was awarded a 2015 Shifting Foundation Award and 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. He is Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego.

- Website (https://www.mark-dresser.com/bio)
7/15/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"There might not be too many musicians who can claim to have backed up both Steve Lacy and Duran Duran, and surely very few trombonists. Glen Ferris, a native of Los Angeles, got started early as a jazz professional. He has used his city's busy studio scene as a launching platform for a variety of different musical journeys, the styles coming and going in the process. Prototype fusion jazz efforts with Billy Cobham and George Duke were said to have sounded dated in the late '80s, but were considered hip again only a decade later, so it is safe to say that this trombonist will bask in several waves of recognition from his projects over the years.He was a classical student when he began his study of the instrument sometimes insultingly referred to as "a pitch imitator." From 1964 through 1966, he studied theory and composition with Don Ellis, a snorting, trumpet-blasting bandleader who wore Nehru jackets and particularly liked providing audiences with a lengthy, detailed list of the time signature changes that were about to come in the next scheduled tune on the program. One impressive statistic involving numbers is that, at only 16, Ferris was ensconced in the orchestra of said madman, remaining there through 1970. The experience must have been good preparation not only for the sight-reading demands of the studio world, but for the complex demands of later bosses such as Frank Zappa, with whom he worked in 1972, or Harry James, with whose big band he performed in 1973 and 1974. In the second half of the '70s, more of an edge developed in his playing, much of it courtesy of the driving drumming of Cobham, who stuck the trombonist in the front line of various projects between 1974 and 1976. Yet it would still be decades until the trombonist's talents as a bandleader began to emerge.Flesh & StoneMeanwhile, on the Los Angeles front, Ferris was also lucky enough to become involved in musical happenings with trumpeter Bobby Bradford, an inspirational spirit from the acoustic, swinging free jazz side of things. Freelancing in a wide range of classical, soul, pop, and rock live and studio projects, Ferris kept both his wits and a lean melodic edge to his playing that prevented him from ever being disregarded as just another tuneless fusion blaster. In 1977, he took on the ambitious project Celebration, his own ten-piece unit, and also worked in a fine duo setting with Milcho Leviev, the latter music considered to be some of Ferris' best work by jazz purists. He worked with clarinetist Tony Scott in 1981, then did some excellent jazz playing as a member of trumpeter Jack Walrath's group in 1982-1983. The following decade he finally did three solo albums for the Enja label, the series beginning with the excellent Flesh & Stone in 1995. Palatino is an even more recent project, a cooperative quartet that got excellent notices for its live performances. The trombonist is joined in this group by trumpeter Paolo Fresu, Italian jazz veteran Aldo Romano on drums, and bassist Michel Benita.A strange aspect of Ferris' career, which just by nature of its versatility has thrown the more simpler music business bloodhounds off the trail, is the fact that some of the most exciting sounding groups he was in were never recorded. He seems to have had bad luck with Frank Zappa, playing in several ensembles that rehearsed endlessly and then broke up before recording anything, including an early, somewhat gargantuan Hot Rats/Grand Wazoo orchestra. During the most experimental period of the great songwriter Tim Buckley, a cryptic note about the dismal business prospects of his decision to go avant-garde once again includes a mention of Ferris: "Buckley could not record his group (John Balkin on bass, Emmett Chapman on ten-string electric stick, Glen Ferris on trombone, Maury Baker on tympani)." "-Eugene Chadbourne-All Music (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/glenn-ferris-mn0000656998/biography)
7/15/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.