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James Minter (Jimmy) Knepper (November 22, 1927 – June 14, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist. In addition to his own recordings as leader, Knepper performed and/or recorded throughout his career with many of the top figures in jazz including the bands of Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Claude Thornhill, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Gil Evans, Thad Jones & Mel Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi & Lew Tabackin, and, most famously, as friend and arranging/transcribing partner of bassist and composer Charles Mingus in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Knepper died in 2003 of complications of Parkinson's disease.〔(Erling Kroner essay "In Memorium" )〕 ==Biography== Knepper was born in Los Angeles, California,〔 the second son of a nurse and a police officer. His parents divorced shortly after his birth, and his mother had to take her abusive husband to court in order to get child support. He and his older brother, Robert, were sent to several boarding and military schools, Page Military Academy and St. John's Military Academy, while their mother worked. He picked up his first instrument, an alto horn, at the age of 6 while he was a pupil there.〔 His first teacher convinced him to put aside the alto, and pick up the trombone, because, as he said, he had a "trombone mouth". He did his first professional gigs in LA at the age of 16. He graduated high school, and later attended classes at Los Angeles Community College. He married Maxine Helen Fields, a trumpet player with the all-female jazz band the International Sweethearts of Rhythm on May 8, 1954, at a civil ceremony in Tucson, Arizona, while he was on a tour with the Maynard Ferguson Band. They had two children, a daughter, Robin Reid Knepper Mahonen, and a son, Timothy Jay Knepper, who pre-deceased him. Jimmy chose the names "Robin" and "Jay" to honor his idol, Charlie Parker, who the jazz world knew as "Bird". He had four grandchildren. In 1959, the U.S. State Department funded a trip for bandleader Herbie Mann to visit Africa, after they heard his version of "African Suite." In a stroke of serendipity, Jimmy Knepper replaced Willie Dennis as trombonist in the band for this tour. The grueling 14 week tour took place between 12/31/1959 to 4/5/1960. Personnel: Herbie Mann, Bandleader, flute and sax; Johnny Rae, vibist and arranger; Don Payne, bass; Doc Cheatham, trumpet; Jimmy Knepper, trombone; Carlos "Patato" Valdes, conguero; Jose Mangual, bongos. Destinations listed on official itinerary: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Rhodesia, Tanganyika, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia. This tour was meticulously documented by Jimmy, in a series of letters he sent home to his wife, Maxine, his daughter, Robin, and his son, Timothy. These letters were recently found carefully preserved in a dusty box in the attic of the family home, and have now been transcribed by his daughter. The letters provide a fascinating glimpse into the inner circles of a notable piece of jazz history, and the life of a touring musician, who was also a devoted family man. He paints vivid portraits of the personal life of the musicians he worked with, and his descriptions of the African landscapes and its people are heartbreakingly stunning portraits of an era where there were no civil rights for Africans in their own land. Jimmy's daughter is hoping to publish these letters in the near future. In 1962, he toured the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman's Big Band, as part of the cultural exchange during the Cold War. The Bolshoi Ballet came to the US, and the Benny Goodman Band went to the Soviet Union. This groundbreaking, yet disastrous tour, was also documented in Jimmy's letters. They have yet to be transcribed. He also played the entire run of the Broadway show ''Funny Girl'', with Barbra Streisand, and later, Mimi Hines. After seventeen previews, the Broadway production opened on March 26, 1964, at the Winter Garden Theatre, subsequently transferring to the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre to complete its total run of 1,348 performances. In 1967 and 1968, he played in the pit orchestra at the Mark Hellinger Theater for "An Evening with Marlene Dietrich", for which Dietrich received a special Tony award in 1968. He also appeared on and off Broadway in "On Your Toes", and "The Me Nobody Knows". While he was playing ''Funny Girl'', he became a member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, a big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis around 1965, which began the 40-year tradition of Monday night jazz shows at the Village Vanguard in NYC's Greenwich Village. The band performed for twelve years in its original incarnation, but since the death of Lewis in 1990 it has been known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. They have maintained a Monday-night residency at the Village Vanguard for four decades. Knepper again toured the USSR, this time with TJML, as well as Japan and Europe with them, and appeared with them at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1974. In 1969, he toured and recorded "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are", with keyboardist Al Kooper, in the jazz period which followed his departure from Blood, Sweat & Tears. Jimmy appeared on this concert tour which included shows at the Philadelphia Spectrum, and in Atlanta, where he briefly met Janis Joplin. In 1980, he received a Grammy nomination from The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, for "Best Jazz Instrumentalist Performance, Soloist", for his original album, "Cunningbird". He received "Best Trombonist" award from Downbeat Magazine Reader's Poll four years running from 1981-1984; and the Downbeat Critic's Poll in 1981, and then five years running, from 1983-1987. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jimmy Knepper」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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