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English jazz musician (1934–1987) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987)[1] was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as an adult. Feldman emigrated to the United States in the mid-1950s, where he continued working in jazz and also as a session musician with a variety of pop and rock performers.
Victor Feldman | |
|---|---|
Feldman with L.A. Express in San Francisco, 1976 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Victor Stanley Feldman |
| Born | 7 April 1934 Edgware, London, England |
| Died | 12 May 1987 (aged 53) Woodland Hills, California, United States |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
|
| Formerly of | Miles Davis Lighthouse All-Stars Steely Dan |
Feldman was born in Edgware on 7 April 1934.[2] He caused a sensation as a musical prodigy when he was "discovered", aged seven. His family were all musical and his father founded the Feldman Swing Club in London in 1942 to showcase his talented sons.[3] Feldman performed from a young age: "from 1941 to 1947 he played drums in a trio with his brothers; when he was nine he took up piano and when he was 14 started playing vibraphone".[2] He featured in the films King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) and Theatre Royal (1943). In 1944, he was featured at a concert with Glenn Miller's AAAF band, as "Kid Krupa" (in reference to drummer Gene Krupa).[4] He also "took a prominent role in the musical Piccadilly Hayride" (1946–1948).[2]
His drums teacher Carlo Krahmer encouraged Feldman to play the vibraphone which he did first in the Ralph Sharon Sextet and later in the Roy Fox band. Feldman played with Vic Lewis and Ted Heath.[2] Feldman played with Sharon from late 1949 to 1951, including performances in Switzerland.[2] There were further overseas trips with Ronnie Scott (to Paris in 1952), and Harry Parry (to India).[2] He also played with Parry in the UK from October 1953 to January 1954.[2] From 1954, when he recorded with Jimmy Deuchar, and played again with Scott, "he was working mainly as a pianist and vibraphonist; his early vibraphone playing showed the influence of Milt Jackson".[2]
He was a notable percussionist, but it was as a pianist and vibraphone player that he became best known.[5]
Before leaving the UK to work in the US, Feldman recorded with Ronnie Scott's orchestra and quintet from 1954 to 1955, which also featured other important British jazz musicians such as Phil Seamen and Hank Shaw. It was Scott who recommended that Feldman emigrate to the US, which he did in 1955.[6] Once there, his first steady work was with the Woody Herman Herd.[6] He had frequent return trips to the UK over the following years.[6] His 8-week visit in 1956–57 included studio recording sessions and club appearances.[6] After Herman he joined Buddy DeFranco for a short time.[2] In 1958, he had his own working band on the west coast, which included the innovative bassist Scott LaFaro. His 1958 album The Arrival of Victor Feldman includes LaFaro and Stan Levey on drums. He recorded with many jazz artists, including Benny Goodman, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis, most notably on Davis' 1963 album Seven Steps to Heaven, the title tune being his own composition. Davis invited Feldman to join his group full-time, but Feldman declined, preferring the stability of studio work to the career of a touring musician.[7] The 5-CD Shelly Manne Black Hawk set, originally released on LP in September 1959, is a good representation of Feldman's unmistakable driving comping behind the soloists, helping to define the session as a valuable hard bop genre element.
In 1957, Feldman settled in Los Angeles permanently and then specialised in lucrative session work for the US film and recording industry, with the exception of joining the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1960-61.[8] Feldman's vibraphone soloing is featured extensively on the Grammy Award-winning The Music from Peter Gunn, with AllMusic writing, "There's some particularly impressive work by drummer Shelly Manne and vibes player Victor Feldman, whose cool, understated playing seems to deliberately recall that of Milt Jackson."[9]
He also branched out to work with a variety of musicians outside of jazz, recording with artists such as Frank Zappa in 1967, Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell in the 1970s and Tom Waits and Joe Walsh in the 1980s. It is Feldman's percussion work on Steely Dan's song "Do It Again" that gives the song its Latin groove. Feldman appears on all seven Steely Dan albums released in the 1970s and 1980 in the band's first incarnation.
Feldman died of a heart attack in 1987 at his home in Los Angeles, aged 53, following an asthma attack.[6]
In 2009, he was inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.[10]
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| Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948–54 | The Young Vic | Esquire | With various |
| 1955 | Suite Sixteen | Tempo/Contemporary | Some quartet; some septet; some big band |
| 1956 | Victor Feldman in London, Vol 1 | Tempo | Some tracks quartet with Terry Shannon (piano), Pete Blannin and Lennie Bush (bass; separately), Phil Seamen (drums); one track quartet with Dizzy Reece (trumpet), Bush (bass), Seamen (drums) |
| 1956 | Transatlantic Alliance | Tempo | With various |
| 1956–57 | Victor Feldman in London, Vol 2 | Tempo | With various |
| 1957 | Vic Feldman on Vibes | Mode | Most tracks quartet, with Carl Perkins (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Stan Levey (drums); some tracks sextet, with Frank Rosolino (trombone), Harold Land (tenor sax) added |
| 1958 | The Arrival of Victor Feldman | Contemporary | Trio, with Scott LaFaro (bass), Stan Levey (drums) |
| 1959 | Latinsville! | Contemporary | With various |
| 1960–61 | Merry Olde Soul | Riverside | Most tracks trio, with Sam Jones and Andy Simpkins (bass; separately), Louis Hayes (drums); some tracks quartet, with Hank Jones (piano) added |
| 1962 | Stop the World I Want to Get Off | World Pacific | Trio, with Bob Whitlock (bass), Lawrence Marable (drums) |
| 1962 | A Taste of Honey and a Taste of Bossa Nova | Infinity | Some tracks quartet with Nino Tempo (tenor sax), Bob Whitlock (bass), Colin Bailey (drums); some tracks quartet with Buddy Collette (tenor sax, flute), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Ron Jefferson (drums); some tracks quintet, with Clifford Scott (flute, tenor sax), Laurindo Almeida (guitar), Al McKibbon (bass), Chico Guerrero (drums) |
| 1962 | Soviet Jazz Themes | Äva | Some tracks sextet with Harold Land (tenor sax), Nat Adderley (cornet), Joe Zawinul (piano), Bob Whitlock (bass), Frank Butler (drums); some tracks sextet with Land (tenor sax), Carmell Jones (trumpet), Herb Ellis (guitar), Whitlock (bass), Butler (drums) |
| 1964 | Love Me with All Your Heart | Vee Jay | With unknown others |
| 1964 | It's a Wonderful World | Vee Jay | Quartet, with Bill Perkins (flute), Monty Budwig (bass), Colin Bailey (drums) |
| 1965 | His Own Sweet Way | Ronnie Scott's Jazz House | Trio, with Rick Laird (bass), Ronnie Stephenson (drums); in concert |
| 1967 | Victor Feldman Plays Everything in Sight | Pacific Jazz | Feldman plays all instruments |
| 1967 | The Venezuela Joropo | Pacific Jazz | Most tracks with Bill Perkins (flute, alto flute), Dorothy Remson (harp), Emil Richards (vibes, marimba), Al Hendrickson (guitar), Max Bennett (bass), Larry Bunker (timbales), Milt Holland (maracas, percussion); some tracks with Perkins (flute, alto flute), Dennis Budimir (guitar), Monty Budwig (bass), Colin Bailey (drums) |
| 1986 | Smooth | TBA | As Victor Feldman's Generation Band |
| 1973? | Your Smile | with Larance Marable, Bob Whitlock | |
| 1973? | Seven Steps to Heaven | Choice | Quartet, with Tom Scott (alto sax, tenor sax, flute, alto flute), Chuck Domanico (bass), John Guerin (drums) |
| 1977? | The Artful Dodger | Concord | With Jack Sheldon (trumpet, vocals), Monty Budwig and Chuck Domanico (bass; separately); Colin Bailey (drums) |
| 1977? | In My Pocket | ||
| 1978 | Together Again | Yupiteru | with Monty Budwig (bass), Shelly Manne (drums) |
| 1982 | Secret of the Andes | Palo Alto | With Hubert Laws (flute), Lee Ritenour (guitar), Abraham Laboriel (electric bass), Harvey Mason (drums), Alex Acuña and Milt Holland (percussion) |
| 1983 | Soft Shoulder | Palo Alto | As Generation Band; with sons Trevor Feldman (drums), Jake Feldman (bass), and Josh Feldman (management), Tom Scott and various others |
| 1983 | To Chopin with Love | Highlight | Trio, with John Patitucci (bass), Trevor Feldman (drums) |
| 1984 | Call of the Wild | TBA Records | As Generation Band; with sons Trevor Feldman (drums), and Josh Feldman (mixing engineer), Tom Scott, Robben Ford and various others |
| 1984 | Fiesta | TBA Records | With Chuck Mangione (flugelhorn, trumpet), Chick Corea (keyboards), Dianne Reeves (vocals) |
| 1985? | High Visibility | As Victor Feldman's Generation Band; with various | |
| 1987 | Rio Nights | TBA Records | Recorded in 1977, released in 1987. With Hubert Laws (flute), Harvey Mason (drums), Chuck Domanico (bass), Fred Tackett (guitars), son Trevor Feldman (drums), John Patitucci (bass), Eddie Karam ("music coordinator" and marimba) |
Main source:[11]
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With The 5th Dimension
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With The Doobie Brothers
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With The Emotions
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With The Keane Brothers
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With Barney Kessel
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With John Klemmer
With Gladys Knight
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With Peggy Lee
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With Gordon Lightfoot
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With Bobby McFerrin
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With Frank Zappa
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