Representative Albums: "Early Bebop on Keynote," "Live at the Village Vanguard," "Alive in New York"
Representative Songs: "Coogan's Bluff," "The Baron," "Red Wig"
Biography
Red Rodney's comeback in the late '70s was quite inspiring and found the veteran bebop trumpeter playing even better than he had during his legendary period with Charlie Parker. He started his professional career by performing with Jerry Wald's orchestra when he was 15, and he passed through a lot of big bands, including those of Jimmy Dorsey (during which Rodney closely emulated his early idol Harry James), Elliot Lawrence, Georgie Auld, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown. He totally changed his style after hearing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, becoming one of the brighter young voices in bebop. Rodney made strong contributions to the bands of Gene Krupa (1946), Claude Thornhill, and Woody Herman's Second Herd (1948-1949). Off and on during 1949-1951, Rodney was a regular member of the Charlie Parker Quintet, playing brilliantly at Bird's recorded Carnegie Hall concert of 1949. But drugs cut short that association, and Rodney spent most of the 1950s in and out of jail. After he kicked heroin, almost as damaging to his jazz chops was a long period playing for shows in Las Vegas. When he returned to New York in 1972, it took Rodney several years to regain his former form. However, he hooked up with multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan in 1980 and the musical partnership benefited both of the veterans; Sullivan's inquisitive style inspired Rodney to play post-bop music (rather than continually stick to bop) and sometimes their quintet (which also featured Garry Dial) sounded like the Ornette Coleman Quartet, amazingly. After Sullivan went back to Florida a few years later, Rodney continued leading his own quintet which in later years featured the talented young saxophonist Chris Potter. Red Rodney, who was portrayed quite sympathetically in the Clint Eastwood film Bird (during which he played his own solos), stands as proof that for the most open-minded veterans there is life beyond bop. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
In 1958 he left jazz because of diminishing opportunities, lack of acceptance as a white bebop trumpeter, and problems with the police about his drug addiction. He continued to work in other musical fields. Although he continued to be paid well, he supported his drug habit through theft and fraud, eventually spending 27 months in prison. In the early 1970s he was bankrupted by medical costs following a stroke and returned to jazz. He also managed to give up drugs during the 1970s, although in 1975 he was incarcerated in Kentucky for drug offenses. While jailed he gave music lessons to guitarist Wayne Kramer of the MC 5.
From 1980 to 1982, Rodney made five highly regarded albums with multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan. In these albums he started to play post-bop jazz. He continued to work and record into the 1990s. Most notably, he performed with The Rolling Stones' drummer Charlie Watts who created a tribute to Parker. Rodney provided an early showcase for saxophonist Chris Potter, who was a regular member of his working group and only 19 years old when Rodney recorded "Red Alert" in late 1990.
Rodney's son, (Mark Rodney), was in the acoustic duo, Batdorf and Rodney, and is an accomplished guitarist.
References
Fresh Air from WHYY, December 30, 2002
Morton, Richard & Cook, Brian: The Penguin Guide To Jazz, New Edition, London, Penguin, 1994
Morton, Richard & Cook, Brian: The Penguin Guide To Jazz on CD, sixth Edition, London, Penguin, 2002, ISBN 9-14-051521-6
