Out of the Blue (band)
Encyclopedia
Out of the Blue was an American jazz
ensemble founded by Blue Note Records
in the 1980s as a showcase for the label's younger musicians. They formed in 1984, releasing four albums and touring extensively over the next five years. Their most commercially successful album was 1986's Live at Mt. Fuji, which reached #9 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. The lineup changed occasionally over this time, and the group disbanded in 1989 after its members moved on to solo careers.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
ensemble founded by Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
in the 1980s as a showcase for the label's younger musicians. They formed in 1984, releasing four albums and touring extensively over the next five years. Their most commercially successful album was 1986's Live at Mt. Fuji, which reached #9 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. The lineup changed occasionally over this time, and the group disbanded in 1989 after its members moved on to solo careers.
Members
- Michael Philip MossmanMichael Philip MossmanMichael Philip Mossman is an American hard bop jazz trumpeter.Mossman's early career included a tour of Europe with Anthony Braxton in 1978 and tours with Roscoe Mitchell in the early 1980s. He also did session work in the 1980s, for Styx among others...
- trumpet - Kenny GarrettKenny GarrettKenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
- alto saxophone - Ralph BowenRalph BowenRalph Bowen is a jazz saxophonist who began his career with the Blue Note Records group Out of the Blue before releasing several albums for the Dutch label Criss Cross Jazz....
- tenor saxophone - Harry PickensHarry PickensHarry Pickens is an American jazz pianist. He began his career with the group the Blue Note Records group Out of the Blue before releasing several albums as leader...
- piano - Robert HurstRobert Hurst (musician)Robert Hurst is an American jazz bassist.Hurst played guitar early in his career before concentrating on bass. He worked with Out of the Blue in 1985 and also did work with musicians such as Tony Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Harry Connick Jr., Geri Allen, Russell Malone, and Steve Coleman...
- bass - Ralph Peterson, Jr.Ralph Peterson, Jr.Ralph Peterson, Jr. is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.Four of Peterson's uncles and his grandfather were all drummers, and Peterson himself began on percussion at age three. He was raised in Atlantic City, where he played trumpet in high school and worked locally in funk groups...
- drums - Kenny DavisKenny DavisKenny Davis is an American jazz bassist.Davis released two albums as leader for Soul Note.He was also member of the Blue Note Records group Out of the Blue and has appeared on albums by Gary Bartz, Art Farmer, Don Byron, Eric Person, Michele Rosewoman, Onaje Allan Gumbs and others.Kenny is...
- bass - Steve WilsonSteve Wilson (jazz musician)Steve Wilson is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:As a teenager, he played in various rhythm and blues and funk bands. After a year accompanying singer Stephanie Mills, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he majored in music. In 1987 he moved to New...
- alto saxophone - Renee RosnesRenee RosnesIrene Louise Rosnes , professionally known as Renee Rosnes , is a pianist, composer and arranger in the hard bop and post-bop mediums.-Biography:...
- piano - Billy DrummondBilly DrummondWillis Robert "Billy" Drummond, Jr. is an American jazz drummer.Drummond learned jazz from an early age from his father, who was a drummer and a jazz enthusiast and whose record collection included many recordings of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Buddy Rich and Elvin Jones, among others...
- drums
Discography
- Out of the Blue (Blue NoteBlue noteIn jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
, 1985) - Live at Mt. Fuji (Blue Note, 1986)
- Inside Track (Blue Note, 1986)
- Spiral Staircase (Blue Note, 1989)