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Billy Hart

Billy Hart (born November 29, 1940)[1] is an American jazz drummer and educator. He is known internationally for his work with Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi" band in the early 1970s, as well as with Shirley Horn, Stan Getz, and Quest, among many others.

Biography

Hart was born in Washington, D.C.[1] He grew up in close proximity of the Spotlite Club, where he first heard the music of Lee Morgan, Ahmad Jamal, and Miles Davis, among others.[2]

Early on in his career he performed with Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, then with Buck Hill. Although he studied mechanical engineering at Howard University, he left school early to tour with Shirley Horn, whom Hart credits with accelerating his musical development.[3] He was a sideman with the Montgomery Brothers (1961), Jimmy Smith (1964–1966), and Wes Montgomery (1966–68).[1] Following Montgomery's death in 1968, Hart moved to New York City, where he recorded with McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, and Pharoah Sanders (playing on his famed recording Karma in 1969), in addition to playing with Eddie Harris, Joanne Brackeen, and Marian McPartland.[4]

Hart was a member of Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi" sextet from 1969 to 1973, recording three albums with Hancock (Mwandishi, Crossings, and Sextant) in this period. He subsequently went on to perform with Tyner (1973–74), Stan Getz (1974–77), and Quest (1980s), in addition to extensive freelance playing (including recording with Miles Davis on 1972's On the Corner).[4] He recorded his debut album Enchance in 1977, supported by musicians such as Don Pullen, Dave Holland, and Dewey Redman. Holland returned to play on Hart’s third release Oshumare in 1984, which also featured Branford Marsalis and Bill Frisell, among others.

Since the early 1990s, Hart has been associated with Oberlin Conservatory of Music.[5] He also teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music,[6] as well as holding an adjunct faculty position at Western Michigan University.[7][8] He also conducts private lessons through the New School and New York University. The drummer often contributes to the Stokes Forest Music Camp and the Dworp Summer Jazz Clinic in Belgium.[9]

Hart first formed his current Quartet (composed of Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson, and Ben Street) in 2003; they have gone on to record three albums as a group, most recently for ECM Records. He also performs with guitarist Assaf Kehati, and is a member of the band known as the Cookers, typically consisting of Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Craig Handy (or Billy Harper), George Cables, and Cecil McBee. The band has toured extensively and has recorded six albums together.[2]

In 2021, Hart was announced as a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master, along Stanley Clarke, Cassandra Wilson, and Donald Harrison, Jr.[10]

Hart resides in Montclair, New Jersey, where he has a music studio described by JazzTimes as his "inner sanctum".[11][12]

Discography

Billy Hart (right), Johnny Alegre (center), and bassist Ron McClure (left), recording Johnny Alegre 3 in New York City
Billy Hart at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay, California

As leader or co-leader

As sideman

Dates indicate the year of the album's release. If the recording was issued more than a year later, the recording date is followed by the release date in brackets. "With" marks collaborative recordings as band and with the musicians equal credit for the album. Otherwise the Leader/line-up column is sorted by the musician's first name. Musicians and labels are only linked on first appearance.

References

  1. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1096. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ a b Effinger, Shannon J. (October 1, 2021). ""In the Cookers, collective centuries of heat"". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  3. ^ "Billy Hart Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  4. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2000). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD (Fifth ed.). Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140514520.
  5. ^ "Oberlin Conservatory of Music faculty page". Oberlin Conservatory of Music. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  6. ^ "New England Conservatory of Music faculty page". New England Conservatory of Music. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  7. ^ Wood, William (28 March 2011). "Master jazz drummer Billy Hart returns to Western Michigan University drum choir". Kalamazoo Gazette. MLive Media Group. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  8. ^ Gazette, William R. Wood | Kalamazoo (2011-03-28). "Master jazz drummer Billy Hart returns to Western Michigan University drum choir". mlive. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  9. ^ "Biography : Billy Hart". Billyhartmusic.com. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  10. ^ "National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2022 NEA Jazz Masters". www.arts.gov. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  11. ^ "The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats", The Star-Ledger, September 28, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive as of September 27, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2017. "Billy Hart -- A versatile, inventive drummer, Hart lives in Montclair."
  12. ^ Seidel, Mitchell. "Billy Hart", JazzTimes, April 25, 2019. Accessed January 11, 2021. "The inner sanctum of Billy Hart’s Montclair, N.J. home is a basement music studio that serves as a combination listening room, recreation room and classroom for visiting music students.... Billy Hart’s home looks like most others off Montclair’s main street of Bloomfield Avenue, a multistory, circa-1920s wood-frame structure with a small front yard and a narrow driveway on the side, except for the exterior color scheme of lavender and purple, which seems to scream 'alternative lifestyle' and makes the house leap out from the rest of the block."
  13. ^ Alkebu-Lan – Land of the Blacks at Discogs (list of releases)
  14. ^ Songs Dances and Prayers at Discogs (list of releases)
  15. ^ Body, Mind and Spirit at Discogs (list of releases)
  16. ^ Chinen, Nate (5 May 2015). "Review: John Raymond, Uncovering the Possibilities of the Familiar". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Billy Hart.